A bill to amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Self-Governance, and for other purposes.

Bill: 118-s-2457
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
Introduced: 2023-07-20
Policy area: Native Americans
Latest action: action_date: 2023-07-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-07-20
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish an Office of Self-Governance to oversee self-determination contracts and self-governance compact agreements between USDA and tribal organizations.</p><p>The Office of Self-Governance must also submit a report to Congress. This publicly available report must include a description of tribal self-governance implementation with respect to the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and forestry activities.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2457 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 20, 2023 Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Self-Governance, and for other purposes.

1. Office of Self-Governance (a) Establishment Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6912 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 224B. Office of Self-Governance (a) Authorization The Secretary shall establish in the Office of the Secretary an Office of Self-Governance. (b) Director The Office of Self-Governance shall be headed by a Director. (c) Duties The Director of the Office of Self-Governance shall oversee self-determination contracts and self-governance compact agreements entered into between the Secretary and Tribal organizations under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. ). . (b) Conforming amendments (1) Subtitle A of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6912 et seq. ) is amended by redesignating section 225 (relating to a Food Access Liaison) ( 7 U.S.C. 6925 ) as section 224A. (2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 7014(b) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out section 224B. . 2. Report on self-governance implementation The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Director of the Office of Self-Governance established under section 224B of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, shall— (1) prepare a report describing— (A) activities carried out by the Secretary of Agriculture under the provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 ( Public Law 115–334 ; 132 Stat 4490) and the amendments made by that Act that provided authority to the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into self-determination contracts with Tribal organizations under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. ) with respect to— (i) the food distribution program on Indian reservations established under section 4(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2013(b) ); and (ii) forestry activities; (B) the administration of the authorities described in subparagraph (A) by the Department of Agriculture; (C) best practices for administering contracting and compacting authority under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. ) within the Department; and (D) what, if any, resources or authority the Department or the Office of Self-Governance requires to fully implement contracting and compacting authority under that Act within the Department; and (2) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act— (A) submit the report prepared under paragraph (1) to— (i) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; (ii) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; (iii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; and (iv) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and (B) make the report prepared under paragraph (1) publicly available.