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Treasurer: opioid-settlement funds in active use; staff formulating responses after federal pause on some grant notices
Summary
Treasurer Janice Taylor told the council the Cherokee Nation is actively using opioid-settlement funds across services and is working to respond after a temporary federal pause on certain grant notices tied to DEI language.
Treasurer Janice Taylor told the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council that the tribe continues to use opioid-settlement funds to support coordinated services and that the Office of Financial Resources is managing multiple reporting requirements. "There is a report that goes along with the opioid settlement that we received a few years ago, and it's a collaborative report," Taylor said, listing career services, public health, behavioral health, the scholarship program and the Cherokee Nation Foundation as contributors.
Taylor said the tribe is in the middle of the annual audit and expects council members to receive audit reports in March. She described the audit as an opportunity to improve documentation and transparency: "The auditors always sit down with us, and we look at this as an opportunity to improve our processes. To improve how we document stuff, how we are transparent, and frankly, just how we are good stewards with the money that we have."
On federal grant access, Taylor said the tribe faced interruptions after federal agencies paused certain funding notices while reviewing language related to diversity, equity and inclusion. "What we found... was that they were combing those notice of funding opportunities for the language that would be counterintuitive to the President's executive order on the diversity, equity, and inclusion statements," she said, adding that the tribe is preparing responses to clarify that it is a government with treaty and trust obligations. Councilor Julia Coates had asked whether the pause could affect tribal grant funding; Taylor said the tribe had difficulty accessing portals during the pause but that many notices have since reopened and staff are "in the weeds" preparing responses.
Taylor encouraged councilors and citizens to report disruptions in services or grant access to her office and said the nation would continue serving citizens regardless of short-term grant interruptions.
