| The Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) held its thirteenth meeting on January 24, 2024 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C. Key federal partners from various offices within the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service were represented at the meeting. |
Background for the TTAC from the Treasury:The Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-168) was signed into law by the President in September 2014 and required the establishment of a seven-member TTAC. The committee members have a broad mandate to “advise the Secretary on matters relating to the taxation of Indians.” Among the duties, the TTAC helps establish training and education programs for Internal Revenue Service field agents who work with tribal governments and tribal finance professionals. NAFOA serves as a supporting organization for the TTAC. |
TTAC Meeting Summary
Opening Remarks
- Krishna Vallabhaneni opened the meeting by announcing that the TTAC’s Designated Federal Officer position is transferring from him to Fatima Abbas.
- Chief Malerba gave an introduction to Treasury Deputy Secretary Adeyemo.
- Deputy Secretary Adeyemo gave remarks and emphasized, “The most important thing we can do… is to focus on the nation-to-nation relationship and increasing tribal consultation.”
New TTAC Members
- Chief Allan (Coeur d’Alene Tribe)
- Martin Tucker (Choctaw Nation)
Federal Updates
- Elizabeth Reese, Senior Policy Advisor for Native Affairs, White House Domestic Policy Council, spoke on Biden’s executive order and what the next era of tribal self-determination will look like and took comments from members of the TTAC.
- Matthew Dannenberg, Tribal Liaison, Department Of Energy,
- Discussed order 144.1 guides on tribal consultation and engagement.
- Mentioned on-boarding more tribal liaisons and ensuring there’s a tribal liaison on every Department of Energy (DOE) element and that they will be involved no matter what administration is involved.
- Spoke about funding opportunities for tribal governments within DOE
- Took comments from members of the TTAC
- Sequoyah Simermeyer, Chairman, National Indian Gaming Commission, gave updates on general welfare and game revenue and took comments from TTAC members.
- Renee Ferguson, Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Native American Partnerships, Social Security Administration, spoke for Director Richard Litsey and discussed income eligibility as a requirement and general welfare payments. Ferguson then took comments from TTAC members.
- Luke Bassett, Director of Policy and Program Impact, IRA Program Implementation Office, Department of the Treasury, spoke about ensuring programs approved by Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are implemented correctly and wants to work with tribes to convey what’s available to them. Bassett took comments from TTAC members.
Treasury and IRS Updates
- Krishna Vallabhaneni delivered remarks and discussed general welfare payments
- Chief Counsel:
- Rachel Levy, Scott Vasnce, and Christiaan Clearly gave updates from their office and stated that they are still working on providing guidance on the tax status of tribally chartered corporations but did not specify when that guidance would be made available.
- Steve Chamberlin, Director of Tax Exempt and Government Entities, IRS, delivered updates and stated they are continuing to hire revenue agents and tax law specialists.
- Carmen Zucker, Acting Manager, Office of Indian Tribal Governments, gave updates to TTAC members.
Other Updates
- Chairman Allen mentioned to vote on the letter to request tribal consultation on the long-term part-time Tribal 401k regulations with the Treasury. This motion passed unanimously.
Future Plans
- The TTAC is currently planning to hold their next meeting on April 23, 2024.
NAFOA continues to collaborate with the TTAC and coordinate efforts with other national and regional inter-tribal organizations to advance our shared objective of optimizing tax policy and programs for Indian Country. To provide comments directly to the TTAC, you can contact TTAC@treasury.gov.
A copy of the meeting minutes from this TTAC meeting will be made available to the public through the Department of the Treasury’s TTAC page. The website also contains meeting minutes and public comments from previous meetings.
Tribal Consultation for Report on Tribal Pension Issues Announced:
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a Tribal Consultation on the TTAC Subcommittee on Parity and Reform’s Project Plan and Report on Tribal Pension Issues.
The consultation will be held virtually on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 from 1-3 p.m ET.
From the Treasury’s Office of Tribal and Native Affairs Director, Fatima Abbas:
Dear Tribal Leader,
I am writing to share the attached Dear Tribal Leader Letter on behalf of the Treasurer of the United States. The Treasurer invites you to a Tribal consultation on the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) Subcommittee on Parity and Reform’s Project Plan and Report on Tribal Pension Issues (Report). This consultation will be held virtually on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 1 – 3 p.m. ET.
You may register for the Tribal Consultation here.
The Report is a work product of the TTAC. It highlights issues that Tribal employers have raised under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA ‘06), including related provisions under section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and section 3(32) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and contains proposed recommendations. For more information and proposed questions, please see the attached Dear Tribal Leader Letter or visit the Tribal Consultation page on Treasury’s website. Treasury is accepting written comments received by April 19, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Alaska Time. Please submit written comments at tribal.consult@treasury.gov.
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