Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act

Summary: Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act This bill requires the Department of the Interior to annually update the count of Indian students eligible for the Johnson-O'Malley Program (JOM Program). The JOM Program awards contracts to tribal organizations, schools, states, and others to support the cultural and academic needs of Indian students. The contract amounts are based on the number of students served. Contracting parties must annually report to Interior on the number of students they serve. If they fail to submit the report, then Interior may not give them program funds for the next fiscal year.  The bill sets forth a process to revise funding allocations provided under the program.  Interior must consult with Indian tribes and state and local education agencies that have not participated in the program to determine their interest in entering into contracts. The Bureau of Indian Education must determine how: (1) the regulatory definition of eligible student may be clarified for contracting parties, and (2) the program funding formula may be updated to ensure the full participation of contracting parties and provide clarity on the funding process.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian 
Education Program Modernization Act''.
SEC. 2. INDIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM STUDENT COUNT UPDATE.
    The Act of April 16, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5342 et seq.) (commonly 
referred to as the Johnson-O'Malley Act) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
``SEC. 7. COMPUTATION OF STUDENT COUNT.
    ``(a) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the following 
definitions apply:
        ``(1) Contracting party.--The term `contracting party' means an 
    entity that has a contract through a program authorized under this 
    Act.
        ``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an 
    entity that is eligible to apply for a contract for a supplemental 
    or operational support program under this Act, as outlined in 
    section 1.
        ``(3) Existing contracting party.--The term `existing 
    contracting party' means a contracting party that has a contract 
    under this Act that is in effect on the date of enactment of the 
    JOM Modernization Act.
        ``(4) JOM modernization act.--The term `JOM Modernization Act' 
    means the Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program 
    Modernization Act.
        ``(5) New contracting party.--The term `new contracting party' 
    means an entity that enters into a contract under this Act after 
    the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act.
        ``(6) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of 
    the Interior.
    ``(b) Determination of the Number of Eligible Indian Students.--
        ``(1) Initial determinations.--
            ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make an initial 
        determination of the number of eligible Indian students served 
        or potentially served by each eligible entity in accordance 
        with subparagraph (B).
            ``(B) Process for making the initial determination.--
                ``(i) Preliminary report.--Not later than 180 days 
            after the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, 
            the Secretary shall publish a preliminary report describing 
            the number of eligible Indian students served or 
            potentially served by each eligible entity, using the most 
            applicable and accurate data (as determined by the 
            Secretary in consultation with eligible entities) from the 
            fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the initial 
            determination is to be made from--

                    ``(I) the Bureau of the Census;
                    ``(II) the National Center for Education 
                Statistics; or
                    ``(III) the Office of Indian Education of the 
                Department of Education.

                ``(ii) Data reconciliation.--To improve the accuracy of 
            the preliminary report described in clause (i) prior to 
            publishing, the Secretary shall reconcile the data 
            described in the preliminary report with--

                    ``(I) each existing contracting party's data 
                regarding the number of eligible Indian students served 
                by the existing contracting party for the fiscal year 
                preceding the fiscal year for which the initial 
                determination is made; and
                    ``(II) identifiable tribal enrollment information.

                ``(iii) Comment period.--After publishing the 
            preliminary report under clause (i) in accordance with 
            clause (ii), the Secretary shall establish a 60-day comment 
            period to gain feedback about the preliminary report from 
            eligible entities, which the Secretary shall take into 
            consideration in preparing the final report described in 
            clause (iv).
                ``(iv) Final report.--Not later than 120 days after 
            concluding the consultation described in clause (iii), the 
            Secretary shall publish a final report on the initial 
            determination of the number of eligible Indian students 
            served or potentially served by each eligible entity, 
            including justification for not including any feedback 
            gained during such consultation, if applicable.
        ``(2) Subsequent academic years.--For each academic year 
    following the fiscal year for which an initial determination is 
    made under paragraph (1) to determine the number of eligible Indian 
    students served or potentially served by a contracting party, the 
    Secretary shall determine the number of eligible Indian students 
    served by the contracting party based on the reported eligible 
    Indian student count numbers identified through the reporting 
    process described in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Contracting Party Student Count Reporting Compliance.--
        ``(1) In general.--For each academic year following the fiscal 
    year for which an initial determination is made under subsection 
    (b) to determine the number of eligible Indian students served or 
    potentially served by a contracting party, the contracting party 
    shall submit to the Secretary a report describing the number of 
    eligible Indian students who were served using amounts allocated to 
    such party under this Act during the previous fiscal year. The 
    report shall also include an accounting of the amounts and purposes 
    for which the contract funds were expended.
        ``(2) Failure to comply.--A contracting party that fails to 
    submit a report under paragraph (1) shall receive no amounts under 
    this Act for the fiscal year following the academic year for which 
    the report should have been submitted.
        ``(3) Notice.--The Secretary shall provide contracting parties 
    with timely information relating to--
            ``(A) initial and final reporting deadlines; and
            ``(B) the consequences of failure to comply outlined in 
        paragraph (2).
        ``(4) Technical assistance.--The Secretary, acting through the 
    Director of the Bureau of Indian Education, shall provide technical 
    assistance and training on compliance with the reporting 
    requirements of this subsection to contracting parties.
    ``(d) Annual Report.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall prepare an annual 
    report, including the most recent determination of the number of 
    eligible Indian students served by each contracting party, 
    recommendations on appropriate funding levels for the program based 
    on such determination, and an assessment of the contracts under 
    this Act that the Secretary--
            ``(A) may include in the budget request of the Department 
        of the Interior for each fiscal year;
            ``(B) shall submit to--
                ``(i) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate;
                ``(ii) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
            Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 
            Senate;
                ``(iii) the Committee on Education and the Workforce of 
            the House of Representatives; and
                ``(iv) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
            Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 
            House of Representatives; and
            ``(C) shall make publicly available.
        ``(2) Manner of preparation.--The Secretary shall prepare the 
    report under paragraph (1) in a manner so as to prevent or minimize 
    new administrative burdens on contracting parties receiving funds 
    under this Act.
    ``(e) Hold Harmless.--
        ``(1) Initial hold harmless.--
            ``(A) In general.--Except as provided under subparagraph 
        (B) and subject to subparagraphs (C) and (D), for a fiscal 
        year, an existing contracting party shall not receive an amount 
        under this Act that is less than the amount that such existing 
        contracting party received under this Act for the fiscal year 
        preceding the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act.
            ``(B) Exceptions.--
                ``(i) In general.--An existing contracting party shall 
            receive an amount under this Act for a fiscal year that is 
            less than the amount that the existing contracting party 
            received under this Act for the fiscal year preceding the 
            date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, if one or 
            more of the following conditions is met:

                    ``(I) Failure to report.--The existing contracting 
                party failed to submit a complete report described in 
                subsection (c) that was most recently due from the date 
                of the determination.
                    ``(II) Violations of contract or law.--The 
                Secretary has found that the existing contracting party 
                has violated the terms of a contract entered into under 
                this Act or has otherwise violated Federal law.
                    ``(III) Student count decrease.--The number of 
                eligible Indian students reported by such existing 
                contracting party under subsection (c) has decreased 
                below the number of eligible Indian students served by 
                the existing contracting party in the fiscal year 
                preceding the date of enactment of the JOM 
                Modernization Act.

                ``(ii) Amount of funding reduction for existing 
            contracting parties reporting decreased student counts.--A 
            reduction in an amount pursuant to clause (i)(III) shall 
            not be done in such a manner that the existing contracting 
            party receives an amount of funding per eligible Indian 
            student that is less than the amount of funding per 
            eligible Indian student such party received for the fiscal 
            year preceding the date of enactment of the JOM 
            Modernization Act.
            ``(C) Ratable reductions in appropriations.--If the funds 
        available under this Act for a fiscal year are insufficient to 
        pay the full amounts that all existing contracting parties are 
        eligible to receive under subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year, 
        the Secretary shall ratably reduce those amounts for the fiscal 
        year.
            ``(D) Sunset.--This paragraph shall cease to be effective 4 
        years after the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act.
        ``(2) Maximum decrease after 4 years.--Beginning 4 years after 
    the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, no contracting 
    party shall receive for a fiscal year more than a 10 percent 
    decrease in funding per eligible Indian student from the previous 
    fiscal year.
    ``(f) Funding Allocation and Reform.--
        ``(1) Funding reform.--The Secretary may make recommendations 
    for legislation to increase the amount of funds available per 
    eligible Indian student through contracts under this Act to equal 
    to or greater than the amount of funds that were available per 
    eligible Indian student through contracts under this Act for fiscal 
    year 1995, and attempt to identify additional sources of funding 
    that do not reallocate existing funds otherwise utilized by Indian 
    students served--
            ``(A) by the Bureau of Indian Education; or
            ``(B) under title VI of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
        ``(2) Increases in program funding.--
            ``(A) In general.--Subject to subsection (e) and 
        subparagraph (B), for any fiscal year for which the amount 
        appropriated to carry out this Act exceeds the amount 
        appropriated to carry out this Act for the preceding fiscal 
        year, the excess amounts shall--
                ``(i) be allocated only to those contracting parties 
            that did not receive their full per student funding 
            allocation for the previous fiscal year; and
                ``(ii) be allocated first to new contracting parties 
            that did not receive their full per student funding 
            allocation for the previous fiscal year.
            ``(B) Parity in funding.--Subparagraph (A) shall have no 
        effect after the first fiscal year for which each contracting 
        party receives their full per student funding allocation.
    ``(g) Increased Geographical and Tribal Participation in the 
Johnson-O'Malley Supplementary Education Program.--To the maximum 
extent practicable, the Secretary shall consult with Indian tribes and 
contact State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and 
Alaska Native organizations that have not previously entered into a 
contract under this Act--
        ``(1) to determine the interest of the Indian tribes, State 
    educational agencies, local educational agencies, and Alaska Native 
    organizations, in entering into such contracts; and
        ``(2) to share information relating to the process for entering 
    into a contract under this Act.
    ``(h) Rulemaking.--
        ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
    enactment of the JOM Modernization Act, the Secretary, acting 
    through the Director of the Bureau of Indian Education, shall 
    undertake and complete a rulemaking process, following the 
    provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 
    Code, to--
            ``(A) determine how the regulatory definition of `eligible 
        Indian student' may be revised to clarify eligibility 
        requirements for contracting parties under this Act;
            ``(B) determine, as necessary, how the funding formula 
        described in section 273.31 of title 25, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (as in effect on the day before the date of 
        enactment of the JOM Modernization Act) may be clarified and 
        revised to ensure full participation of contracting parties and 
        provide clarity on the funding process under this Act; and
            ``(C) otherwise reconcile and modernize the rules to 
        comport with the activities of the contracting parties under 
        this Act as of the date of enactment of the JOM Modernization 
        Act.
        ``(2) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date the 
    rulemaking under paragraph (1) is complete, the Secretary shall 
    submit a report to Congress describing the results of such 
    rulemaking and necessary recommendations to ensure the full 
    implementation of such rulemaking.
    ``(i) Student Privacy.--The Secretary shall ensure that data is 
collected and each report is prepared under this section in a manner 
that protects the rights of eligible Indian students in accordance with 
section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly referred 
to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) (20 U.S.C. 
1232g).
    ``(j) GAO Report.--Not later than 18 months after the final report 
described in subsection (b)(1)(B)(iv) is published, the Comptroller 
General shall--
        ``(1) conduct a review of the implementation of this section 
    during the preceding 2-year period, including any factors 
    impacting--
            ``(A) the accuracy of the determinations of the number of 
        eligible Indian students under this section;
            ``(B) the communication between the Bureau of Indian 
        Education and contracting parties; and
            ``(C) the efforts by the Bureau of Indian Education to 
        ensure accurate and sufficient distribution of funding for 
        Indian students;
        ``(2) submit a report describing the results of the review 
    under paragraph (1) to--
            ``(A) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate;
            ``(B) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
        Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        Senate;
            ``(C) the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native 
        Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            ``(D) the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
        Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        House of Representatives; and
        ``(3) make such report publicly available.
    ``(k) Effect.--Nothing in this section--
        ``(1) creates a new program or duplicates program activities 
    under this Act; or
        ``(2) replaces or diminishes the effect of regulations to carry 
    out this Act existing on the day before the date of enactment of 
    the JOM Modernization Act, unless expressly provided in this 
    section.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.