EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

PRESIDENT 

Brian Cladoosby 

Swinomish Tribe 

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT 

Fawn Sharp 

Quinault Indian Nation 

RECORDING SECRETARY 

Aaron Payment

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa 

Indians of Michigan 

TREASURER 

W. Ron Allen 

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe 

REGIONAL VICE -

PRESIDENTS 

ALASKA 

Jerry Isaac 

Native Village of Tanacross 

EASTERN OKLAHOMA 

Joe Byrd 

Cherokee Nation 

GREAT PLAINS 

Larry Wright 

Ponca Tribe of Nebraska 

MIDWEST 

Roger Rader 

Pokagon Band of Potawatomi 

NORTHEAST 

Lance Gumbs 

Shinnecock Indian Nation 

NORTHWEST 

Mel Sheldon, Jr. 

Tulalip Tribes 

PACIFIC 

Jack Potter, Jr. 

Redding Rancheria 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN 

Darrin Old Coyote 

Crow Nation 

SOUTHEAST 

Larry Townsend 

Lumbee Tribe 

SOUTHERN PLAINS 

Liana Onnen 

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation 

SOUTHWEST 

Joe Garcia 

Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo 

WESTERN 

Bruce Ignacio 

Ute Indian Tribe 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

Jacqueline Pata 

Tlingit 

NCAI HEADQUARTERS 

1516 P Street, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20005 

202.466.7767 

202.466.7797 fax 

www.ncai.org 

N A T I O N A L C O N G R E S S O F A M E R I C A N I N D I A N S 

The National Congress of American Indians 

Resolution #MOH-17-019 

TITLE: Requesting Agencies to Comply with the Tribal General Welfare 

Exclusion Act, PL 113-168, by Recognizing the Treatment of Income for 

Purposes of Benefits Eligibility 

WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians 

of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and 

purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign 

rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with 

the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the 

laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better 

understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise 

promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and 

submit the following resolution; and 

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was 

established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American 

Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and 

WHEREAS, under the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014, Pub.L. 

113-168, 128 Stat. 1883 (codified at 26 U.S.C. § 139E) (the “Act”), Congress 

immunized certain benefits provided by federally-recognized Indian tribes to their 

citizens or members from federal income taxation; and 

WHEREAS, the Act enables Tribes to provide certain benefits to its citizens 

either directly or in the form of financial support, in order to meet basic living needs 

such as meals, housing, and education, as well as support for elders to ensure that their 

basic housing, utility and medical needs are met, among others; and 

WHEREAS, the IRS issued additional guidance making it clear that general 

welfare benefits provided by a tribal government are not to be included as income for 

the tribal citizen who receives the benefit (Revenue Procedure 2014-35); and 

WHEREAS, other state and federal programs, such as the Washington State 

Health Care Authority and its MAGI Medicaid Program Requirements; the Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services and its MAGI calculations; and a recent Social 

Security Administration ALJ Decision (dated April 25, 2016), all serve to exclude 

from income certain payments to tribal citizens for federal benefit eligibility purposes; 

and 

WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) recently denied a 

tribe’s request to acknowledge the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act treatment of 

income for purposes of benefit eligibility despite the SSA ALJ Decision; and 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCAI 2017 Midyear Resolution MOH-17-019 

WHEREAS, the State of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has recently 

interpreted federal regulations governing the SNAP program (food stamps), with the authorization 

of the Department of Agriculture, to deny a tribe’s request to recognize the Tribal General Welfare 

Exclusion Act’s exclusion from income for food stamp benefits provided to its citizens. 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American 

Indians (NCAI) hereby calls on all Federal Departments to recognize and acknowledge the Tribal 

General Welfare Exclusion Act treatment of income for purposes of benefit eligibility; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, if necessary to remedy the problem, NCAI supports 

the enactment of federal legislation to amend the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act to exclude 

tribal general welfare benefits from income for federal program benefits purposes; and 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is 

withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution. 

CERTIFICATION 

The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2017 Midyear Session of the 

National Congress of American Indians, held at the Mohegan Sun Convention Center, June 12 to 

June 15, 2017, with a quorum present. 

Brian Cladoosby, President 

ATTEST: 

Aaron Payment, Recording Secretary 

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