Message from the Executive Director
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Dear ANVCA Members, Partner Organizations, and Affiliates,
I want to wish you an event-filled and safe 2018 summer season, remember to always wear your safety protection - a life vest or helmet should never be optional!
We have had a very eventful last few months, with the completion of our SOLD OUT 10th Annual ANVCA business conference, and the successful completion of several key pieces of legislation related to ANCSA contaminated lands. And, most recently, with some very significant steps in the right direction related to ANCSA revenue sharing:
see press releases from
AFN
,
ANCSA CEOs
, and
ANVCA
.
CALL TO ACTION - all of our CEO members are encouraged to write letters of support to the Alaska Congressional Delegation to thank them for their work on our behalf regarding equitable revenue sharing in the coastal plain, and to encourage them to keep the provision in the final bill. You can get the contact sheet to email your letter
HERE.
While this organization has had many reasons to celebrate regarding ANCSA contaminated lands, our work is far from over. We will continue to work with ANTHC, BLM, EPA, and DEC toward a more complete inventory contaminated sites with the goal of getting them cleaned up as quickly as possible. We are extremely grateful for all the work that has been done so far on the ANCSA Contaminated lands working group. Remember that there will be grant money available to do site evaluations and to apply for clean-up monies and the deadline will be this coming fall, so watch for further communication about these upcoming opportunities.
I am happy to report that we continue to have constructive dialogue at the State level for the return of 14C(3) lands to villages that elect not to have a borough or municipality. We will get updates out to you as we get them. As a reminder, the current plan is document the process so as to create a standard operating procedure that the State of Alaska can use going forward to expedite the return of these lands to the associated village entity.
The staff at ANVCA is working very hard on behalf of our members, if you are currently not registered as a FULL-PAID member please show us your support, you can
join for as little as $200 and our goal is for all 176 village corps to be fully participating in our organization. If you are not a village corporation but still support or mission, we invite you to join as a
partner today!
We will start a few new things this year, so keep watch for upcoming networking events and opportunities to connect with other CEOs and Board members as well as top executives in the business community. We will bring you more training opportunities to develop current and future leaders throughout 2018 and we look forward to collaborating with you!
As always, please
reach out to me personally, I would love the opportunity to get to know your organization better, we want to hear from you!
Tsin'aen!
Hallie L. Bissett
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UPCOMING EVENTS
WHEN: June 27th 2018 @ 11:30 - 1:00
WHAT: Fishnet Lunch
WHERE: Petroleum Club of Anchorage
WHO: Vantage Consulting Group - Conflict Resolution
WHEN: July 13th 2018 @ 12:00 - 3:00
WHAT: ANVCA Summer Picnic
WHERE:
American Legion Spenard Post #28
Topic: Networking with Senator Dan Sullivan (invited)
WHEN: August 8, 9
WHAT: ANVCA Interior Training Conference
WHERE: TBD - Fairbanks
Topic: Doyon area villages training event (various topics)
WHEN: August TBD
WHAT: ANVCA Fishnet Luncheon
WHERE: TBD
Topic: Networking with Senator Lisa Murkowski (invited)
WHEN: September 10-14
WHAT: ANVCA Legislative Fly-In
WHERE: Washington DC
Topic: Advocate on ANVCA Legislative Priorities
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Progress made on 2018 ANVCA Legislative Priorities
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ANVCA has established other policy priorities to pursue in order to see this work through to the end, including but not limited to: pushing for mitigation credits; ensuring that ANCs become preferred contractors in site cleanup; and advance an interagency working group to oversee cleanup progress. We've seen progress this year at the State and Federal level on our big issue of contaminated lands liability, but the fight is not yet over.
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Equitable Revenue Sharing in Alaska's Coastal Plain
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The Alaska Native Village Corporation Association (ANVCA), representing 176 Village Corporations created under ANCSA, supports the efforts of Congressman Don Young, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Dan Sullivan to include an equitable revenue sharing provision in an appropriations bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a related bill in the Senate.
The provision would allocate three percent of oil and gas leasing revenues that may be generated from the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) Section 1002 Area/Coastal Plain to the Alaska Native Fund authorized in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) for distribution through Section 7(i) and 7(j) of that Act. ANCSA contains a unique provision, one that is based on the basic and profound historical and cultural value of sharing of resources among Alaska Native people. The provision is in concert with that value.
The delegation worked with their colleagues in Congress to increase the royalty rate for oil and gas leasing on the Coastal Plain to 16.67 percent to provide that the State share would be larger than it would have been had the royalty remained at 12.5 percent; while also allowing for a small percent for equitable sharing of such revenues through the Alaska Native Fund of ANCSA.
"
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) includes a provision that originates from our belief about the sharing of resources among all Alaska Natives. In fact, sections 7(i) and 7(j) of ANCSA state that revenues from resource development on ANCSA lands will be shared among all Alaska Natives. To be true to ANCSA, the amendment provides that 3% of the total Coastal Plain revenues will go to the Alaska Native Fund under ANCSA. To do it any other way would be violating the intent of ANCSA and causing harm to all Alaska Natives" said Chuck Totemoff, President/CEO of Chenega Corporation.
The opportunity to develop a very small percentage of the Coastal Plain in an environmentally sound manner would not even exist today were it not for a strong majority of Alaska Natives supporting and working to achieve the enactment of ANCSA, without which the existing development on the North Slope would not have been possible—ANCSA was an enabler of North Slope development and without it, and the support of Alaska’s indigenous people, Coastal Plain resources would have essentially been stranded. The Alaska Native Community is once again united on this solution to move forward with development in the Coastal Plain.
“ANCSA is a living law intended to meet the real and changing needs of Alaska Natives. It is our treaty substitute and embodies our relationship with the federal government” said Julie Kitka, President of Alaska Federation of Natives.
Alaska Native Corporations are unique economic engines in our State, they reverse the typical economic model of resource extraction and taking profits elsewhere. “It’s what will allow our villages to remain untouched and living a traditional way of life; our ability to generate revenues by investing and operating in other parts of the World and delivering those dollars back into our communities via dividends” said Hallie Bissett, Executive Director of ANVCA.
ANCSA Regional Association Executive Director, Kim Reitmeier said that “The 12 Alaska Native regional corporations stand in unity and are grateful to Alaska's congressional delegation and their colleagues in Congress for their effort that would benefit all Alaskans, State and National economic security, as well as the betterment of the social, health and economic well-being of our shareholders, villages, and communities.”
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Seeking Applicants for ANVCA Legislative and Lands Committees
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Due to some recent changes in the structure of some of our Member Corporations, we have lost a few of our constituents in our Legislative and Lands Committees. So, we are reaching out to dues-paying Member Corporations to recruit those that are interested in helping to steer ANVCA's legislative and lands agendas. These are volunteer positions with a time commitment of one-to-two hours per quarter for meetings, with the possibility of additional meetings as necessary.
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Winter Projects Coming to Fruition
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As an annual event that marks the start of spring, the Ahtna people of the Copper River region begin their harvest of Copper River King and Red Salmon. As recognition of this event marks the awakening of the small village of Chitina, the employees of Chitina Native Corporation (CNC) have been working on projects and board initiatives throughout the winter.
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Growing Business, Perpetuating Tradition
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St. Mary’s Native Corporation had a great turn out for the annual meeting in May and we’ve recessed to August for the Settlement Trust. Denali Materials is busy producing asphalt and polymer modified asphalt.
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The Alaska Native community
lost one of its strongest advocates on May 7, 2018, with the death of Lloyd A. Allen. Lloyd was the Chairman of the Board of The Tatitlek Corporation at the time of his death, and served Tatitlek for over 30 years as an employee and Board member. He was also a phenomenal father, fisherman, and mentor.
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In the first four months of this year Toghotthele Corporation has attained the highest revenues in the history of the company and have begun to see the results of their operational investments pay off. This year they have completed both the largest Civil and Vertical construction projects in the history of the company.
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Four Ways Any Leader Can Dramatically Reduce Conflict
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Let’s look at the Iñupiat value to: “Avoid Conflict.”
We probably all have stories of tension on boards or within leadership teams. We know how small community and family politics can spill into corporate decision making or relationships.
I won’t pretend that the answers are easy. But I will say that there are definitely answers.
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Ballot Measure 1 would replace our current science-based permitting system with new, unproven regulations that would impact virtually any type of project in Alaska. The measure poses a threat to Alaska’s communities, our jobs and the Alaska way of life. The measure, also known as the Stand for Salmon, claims to improve salmon habitat protections, but instead will have serious unintended consequences for Alaska and Alaskans.
It will go before Alaska voters on November 6
th
.
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Designing Benefits for a Generationally Diverse Workforce
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What factors do you consider when designing your benefit plan? Many employers might start with cost or budget restrictions; some might start by considering their corporate culture while others might begin with looking at responses from employee surveys or other external survey data. All are great things to consider but should be viewed together rather than individually.
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Five Questions – And Answers – About the General Welfare Exclusion for Alaska Native Corporations
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Providing financial assistance for the general welfare of shareholders and their relatives has been a long-standing policy for many Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs). Historically there was little relevant guidance from the IRS on whether the recipient benefits were taxable, yet ANCs were required to issue Form 1099 reporting income to the recipients as well as filing the 1099 with the IRS.
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Good Afternoon NACA Members and Associates:
We hope you will find this “connect the dots” between legislation and BD to be helpful.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Last week, the House approved by a vote of 210-206 the Administration’s proposal to revoke $15B in appropriated funds from federal agencies – as was approved in the FY2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act. Most of these funds dealt with money that Congress had appropriated that went unspent or is no longer necessary. While this was the largest rescission in history, and the first since the Clinton Administration, a Congressional Budget Office report on the package found the House measure will ultimately save just $1B in actual outlays over the next 10 years.
The White House had
tweaked its rescission proposal
, dropping its proposal to cut $252M in remaining Ebola response funding.
Hardest hit were departments of Agriculture; Health and Human Services; Transportation; Treasury; and Energy.
These agencies will absorb the cuts disproportionately in FY2019, before gradually lessening until FY2028. Treasury's Capital Magnet Fund, which helps credit unions finance affordable housing and community revitalization projects, would see its outlays reduced by $141M. The Energy Department, would face the largest rescission—a $4.1B cut to its Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?
The bill is part of a larger effort the White House is taking to cut federal appropriations – a pushback by the President on the budget deal that set top-line funding levels for FYs 2018 and 2019. This is the first of a reported series of three rescission packages to be submitted by the Administration. The second will be submitted prior to the mid-term elections.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The package will now head to the Senate, where it will face a compressed schedule but only require a majority of the votes for passage. Already, several Senate Republicans have expressed concerns about the bill. If the vote go along party lines as expected, even one dissenting GOP vote would likely sink the bill.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO NATIVE CONTRACTORS?
NACA Members will remember that Bloomberg’s GovCon spending analysis presented to our Membership in April reflected 5 agencies whose spending remained ahead of other departments in terms of their spending rate. These included Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Transportation, Commerce, Labor and Education which seemed to be an indication of where the Administration may have its priorities, and subsequently where it may NOT want to reduce spending authority through rescissions.
NACA completed an analysis based on comparing this year’s spend rate against the total spend for Fiscal 2017
. What we learned is that Defense, Energy, NASA, and Education remain ahead of others in their spending rates – which means Native Enterprises should continue focusing our BD attention in these agencies.
On the other hand, those well behind other departments include Health and Human Services, Veterans, Agriculture, Treasury, Interior, Labor, and EPA. State was the department even further behind in procurement spending, having spent less than 50% of its procurement funding for the fiscal year.
As this is a preliminary analysis
(we have heard that funding from the Omnibus Appropriations Act has not yet flowed down to many programs and procurement), it nonetheless gives us an initial indication of where likely opportunities may
decreasingly
exist.
NACA will provide another similar analysis as subsequent rescission bills are processed, when the Senate votes on the bills, and after the 4
th
of July when we are into the 4
th
Quarter of FY 2018.
Happy Hunting!
Mike
Michael “Keawe” Anderson | Executive Director
Native American Contractors Association
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