Government shutdown hits Fort Belknap

With the federal government shutdown entering its third week, Fort Belknap Indian Community’s contingency plan went into effect Sunday, impacting workers and services at the reservation.

“I really appreciate the cooperation and commitment that all my tribal employees have demonstrated during this shutdown issue,” Fort Belknap’s Chief Administrative Officer Delina Cutstherope said Friday.

She added that she believes that the Fort Belknap community wouldn’t be as strong as it is and provide the services that is does without the employees.

“I think that they do an excellent job at the work that they do for the tribal government and our community,” she said. “I appreciate their sacrifice and their hard work during this difficult time.” The contingency plan consists of an approximately one-third reduction in the workforce, she said.

Approximately 240 employees will be working, with 83 of them working part-time, Cutstherope said, adding that the government will furlough 113 employees and lay off 40 temporary employees.

Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andrew Werk Jr. said this morning that this is not his first time dealing with a contingency plan. He said the plan was something good for the community to have, and it is similar to the ealrier versions, although it has been updated.

He added that under the plan, the tribe will maintain essential services that are in place as much and as long as possible.

“It’s a good plan,” Werk said, adding that the people who were working on the contingency plan put a lot of time and thought into it and have good prior experience.

Cutstherope said several of the government-funded programs, such as public safety and health-related programs, core emergency programs, road maintenance, low-income energy assistance, food commodity and Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, will remain open during the shutdown and maintain usual office hours. Cutstherope said 20 other programs will also remain open and maintain usual office hours. These programs, she said, will have fewer available staff members or reduced client services.

Transportation is another program that will have fewer staff members but will retain usual office hours, she said.

Prairie Mountain Utilities, which provides water, sewer and garbage disposal services for the reservation; the tribal finance department; fish and wildlife department; tribal maintenance, and tribal land department, she said, will be monitored as the shutdown continues.

She said the tribal government has a concern for the services that are client assistance driven, adding they are monitoring the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, very carefully.

SNAP will be funded until Jan. 18, she said, adding that she understands the tribal government will have funds to maintain the program until March if the federal government shutdown continues.

Werk said the tribal government has its own unemployment insurance program which is independent from the state and people who are furloughed or laid off are eligible for unemployment benefits during this time.

Werk said other organizations or economic development organizations that are independent from federal funding, such as the casino and Island Mountain Development Corp., will not be affected.

Cutstherope said the tribal government has been working with all the employees of the tribally based programs and tribal government officials, as well as the Blaine County commissioners, the Department of Health and Human Services and the governor’s office. She said they are working with the Blaine County commissioners because their two governments are intertwined and it is important that they work together.

The last time the Fort Belknap Indian Community had a government shutdown similar to this one, she said, was in 1996 when the shutdown lasted for almost a month. Cutstherope said that they had a similar contingency plan then, although some programs and employment have changed so the impact to the work force now is greater.

“I think the difference between the previous shutdown (October 2013) would be the lack of confidence of when it would be resolved,” she said.

She added that with how the House and Senate and the president are communicating, resolution for the shutdown is still unclear, with no end in sight.

“I expect leadership in Washington, D.C., to resolve the issue so that federal employees can continue to get paid and not have to make a sacrifice for terms that cannot be agreed upon,” she said. “I think that while Congress continues to get paid many families are going to be negatively impacted by not being able to rely on a steady income that they work hard for otherwise and that they do a good job for.

“I think that our tribal government is going to continue to monitor our contingency plan as time goes on, daily, and make modifications as necessary to our contingency plan, which will have to be a reaction of further reduction,” Cutstherope added. “It may mean more people getting laid off over time, which is very concerning to our community and the services that our community relies on.”

Werk said that they will wait and see what happens, although he hopes that Congress and President Donald Trump will be able to come to a compromise so people can go back to work.

He added he appreciates Gov. Steve Bullock reaching out to Fort Belknap and offering any assistance he could provide.

Other impacts of the federal government shut down

A representative of Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, who declined to give her name, previously said the shutdown will not affect the operations of Rocky Boy, which is a self-governing reservation. A request for additional comment from the tribal government had not been returned as of print deadline this morning.

The shutdown is also continuing to affect other federal government programs such as the Farm Service Agency.

Farm Service Agency said Market Facility Program payments for producers who have already certified production with the FSA will continue past Jan. 1. It said signup for the program ends Jan. 15, although this deadline may be extended.

The bulletin said that also due to the lapse in federal funding, all commodity loan activity has been ceased as of Jan. 3.

Farm Loans and Farm Storage Facility Loans programs, it said, will not process loan repayments, loan disbursements, refunds and termination of transfers during the shutdown. It adds that loan applications will also not be processed or considered until the lapse in federal funding has been resolved.

The Bureau of Land Management offices are closed due to a lapse in government funding.

Not all programs that rely on federal funding were impacted.

Some federal agencies also continued full operations because their funding was approved prior to the shutdown and state-based programs that rely on federal funding will also be continuing.

A Bureau of Reclamation representative, for example, said that agency was not affected by the government shutdown.

The governor’s office worked prior to the Dec. 21 shutdown to ensure money would be available for state programs that use federal funding.

Hill County Health Officer Kim Larsen said the county health department was not affected by the government shutdown and that WIC is still running as usual.