The Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) held its 15th Periodic Meeting on September 16, 2024. The public meeting was held at the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in Washington, D.C. This meeting will be the final TTAC meeting of the calendar year. All seven TTAC tribal members were in attendance in person:

1. Chair: W. Ron Allen, Tribal Chair and CEO of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
2. Cora White Horse, Council Member, Oglala Sioux
3. Will Micklin, 4th Vice President of the Central Council of Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
4. Rodney Butler, Chairman of Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
5. Martin Tucker, Chief Financial Officer of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
6. Chief Allan, Chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe
7. Carla Keene, Chairman of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians

Also in attendance were:

• Treasurer of the United States Marilynn Malerba, Chief of the Mohegan Tribe
• Treasury Deputy Secretary Adewale O. “Wally” Adeyemo
• Treasury Designated Federal Officers
  • Krishna Vallabhaneni, Tax Legislative Counsel, Office of Tax Policy
  • Fatima Abbas, Director, Office of Tribal and Native Affairs

Additionally present from the IRS were IRS Chief Counsel Marjorie Rollinson, Commissioner of Tax-Exempt & Government Entities Edward Killen, Chief Privacy Officer of IRS Governmental Liaison and Disclosure Kathleen Walters. The TTAC also heard updates from the IRS-Chief Counsel from Scott Vance (Income Tax Accounting), Holly Porter (Passthroughs and Special Industries), and Rachel Levy (Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes).

A copy of the meeting minutes will be made available to the public soon on the Treasury’s TTAC website.

TTAC Meeting Highlights

Remarks by Treasury Deputy Secretary Adeyemo

• Deputy Secretary Adeyemo discussed General Welfare Exclusion Rules and that the Treasury plans to conduct further consultations.
• Multiple members of the TTAC mentioned the importance of releasing guidance on Wholly Owned Tribally Chartered Corporations before the end of the year.
• Chairman Chief Allan also discussed the importance of immortalizing the Treasury’s Office of Tribal and Native Affairs.

Remarks by Chief Counsel Marjorie Rollinson

• Mentions that IRS plans to release proposed regulations for wholly owned tribally chartered corporations soon.

Remarks by Chief Privacy Office Kathleen Walters

• Spent a majority of their time discussing IRS tribal child support services. Walters mentioned that they were working to ensure data shared in this program was protected and asked states to provide mitigation plans by October 1st.
• TTAC member Cora White Horse responded by emphasizing the importance of the IRS child support offset program but pointing out that only tribal families are being restricted from accessing it.

Remarks by Tax Legislative Counsel Krishna Vallabhaneni

• Vallabhaneni stated in their remarks that GWE guidance will have a comment period that will last 90 days from last Tuesday.
• Vallabhaneni also mentioned that wholly owned tribally chartered corporations guidance will be released in a matter of weeks instead of months.

Other IRS Updates

• Rachel Levy stated that guidance on tribal treaty fishing rights is making really good progress.
• In her comments, Cora White Horse reiterated the need for fair treatment for Indians with the Pension Protection Act. Also, White Horse stated that the U.S. Department of Labor needs to start working with tribes and said it will be beneficial for them to come to the next TTAC meeting.

TTAC Subcommittee Updates

GWE

• Chairman Chief Allan stated the subcommittee would follow up with consultation on GWE guidance.
• Chairman Chief Allan nominated Carla Keene to the TTAC Subcommittee as Co-Chair.
  • TTAC members voted unanimously in favor of the nomination.

Tribal Economies

• Chairman Butler gave updates.
• Martin Tucker talked about having a very productive meeting on Tribally Chartered Corporations guidance and restated that they want to get this done by this administration.

Tribal Parity & Reform

• Martin Tucker gives updates and requests to meet with Labor.

Comments from Chairman Allen

• Chairman Allen states that he wants to coordinate a listening session where we have a list of questions from tribal leaders that would be helpful for his colleagues to engage on specific matters. Also suggests moving public comments for earlier during TTAC meetings.

Other Items

• Chairman Chief Allan nominates Tyrell Stevenson as his technical advisor.
• Chairman Butler nominates Jody Cummings as his technical advisor and USET as his organizational advisor.
• Martin Tucker nominates Ken Parsons as his technical advisor.
• TTAC plans to meet again in early February and late April.