OKMULGEE, Okla.- On Aug. 22, the MCN National Council held a joint session of the Health, Education, and Welfare committee and the Business, Finance, and Justice committee. The passed legislation will proceed to be voted on by the Full Council at the next regular session.
The committee addressed the following legislation, the interpretation of which is attributed to language in the bills:
TR 23-083 A tribal resolution of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation authorizing the principal chief to submit a grant application to the Economic Development Administration for the benefit of the Office of Emergency. It passed with a vote of 9-0. It was sponsored by Representative Mark Randolph.
This resolution authorizes the principal chief to complete and apply for a grant through the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for the amount of $1,472,456 for disaster relief. The EDA is a federal agency devoted to local, sustainable economic development; this grant will go toward conducting disaster vulnerability assessments. It will be spent on hiring four emergency management coordinators, four trucks, and computer equipment. The MCNC will match $336,730 if the grant is received.
During the discussion MCN Emergency Management Director Bobby Howard explained, “. . . since we were the only entity in the state of Oklahoma to receive a federal declaration last year, money was set aside through FEMA and then funneled down through the EDA, so that allows us to apply. The pot of money is there, we just have to apply for it. What this allows us is for four people to work in the office of emergency management and for four years the nation will not pay a penny for those individuals, for them, their equipment and their vehicles. The only thing that we will pick up is year five where that 330,000 is shown to pay for those individuals. By that time we should know if it works or it doesn’t… this gives us the opportunity to not spend tribal money.”
To view the full agenda, visit mcnnc.com.
