§ 5388 — Transfer Of Funds

(a) Pursuant to the terms of any compact or funding agreement entered into under this subchapter, the Secretary shall transfer to the Indian tribe all funds provided for in the funding agreement, pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, and provide funding for periods covered by joint resolution adopted by Congress making continuing appropriations, to the extent permitted by such resolutions. In any instance where a funding agreement requires an annual transfer of funding to be made at the beginning of a fiscal year, or requires semiannual or other periodic transfers of funding to be made commencing at the beginning of a fiscal year, the first such transfer shall be made not later than 10 days after the apportionment of such funds by the Office of Management and Budget to the Department, unless the funding agreement provides otherwise. (b) The Secretary is authorized to employ, upon tribal request, multiyear funding agreements. References in this subchapter to funding agreements shall include such multiyear funding agreements. (c) The Secretary shall provide funds under a funding agreement under this subchapter in an amount equal to the amount that the Indian tribe would have been entitled to receive under self-determination contracts under this chapter, including amounts for direct program costs specified under section 5325(a)(1) of this title and amounts for contract support costs specified under section 5325(a)(2), (3), (5), and (6) of this title, including any funds that are specifically or functionally related to the provision by the Secretary of services and benefits to the Indian tribe or its members, all without regard to the organizational level within the Department where such functions are carried out. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary is expressly prohibited from— (A) failing or refusing to transfer to an Indian tribe its full share of any central, headquarters, regional, area, or service unit office or other funds due under this chapter, except as required by Federal law; (B) withholding portions of such funds for transfer over a period of years; and (C) reducing the amount of funds required under this chapter— (i) to make funding available for self-governance monitoring or administration by the Secretary; (ii) in subsequent years, except pursuant to— (I) a reduction in appropriations from the previous fiscal year for the program or function to be included in a compact or funding agreement; (II) a congressional directive in legislation or accompanying report; (III) a tribal authorization; (IV) a change in the amount of pass-through funds subject to the terms of the funding agreement; or (V) completion of a project, activity, or program for which such funds were provided; (iii) to pay for Federal functions, including Federal pay costs, Federal employee retirement benefits, automated data processing, technical assistance, and monitoring of activities under this chapter; or (iv) to pay for costs of Federal personnel displaced by self-determination contracts under this chapter or self-governance; (2) The funds described in paragraph (1)(C) may be increased by the Secretary if necessary to carry out this chapter or as provided in section 5324(c)(2) of this title. (e) In the event an Indian tribe elects to carry out a compact or funding agreement with the use of Federal personnel, Federal supplies (including supplies available from Federal warehouse facilities), Federal supply sources (including lodging, airline transportation, and other means of transportation including the use of interagency motor pool vehicles) or other Federal resources (including supplies, services, and resources available to the Secretary under any procurement contracts in which the Department is eligible to participate), the Secretary shall acquire and transfer such personnel, supplies, or resources to the Indian tribe. (f) With respect to functions transferred by the Indian Health Service to an Indian tribe, the Indian Health Service shall provide goods and services to the Indian tribe, on a reimbursable basis, including payment in advance with subsequent adjustment. The reimbursements received from those goods and services, along with the funds received from the Indian tribe pursuant to this subchapter, may be credited to the same or subsequent appropriation account which provided the funding, such amounts to remain available until expended. (g) Chapter 39 of title 31 shall apply to the transfer of funds due under a compact or funding agreement authorized under this subchapter. (h) An Indian tribe is entitled to retain interest earned on any funds paid under a compact or funding agreement to carry out governmental or health purposes and such interest shall not diminish the amount of funds the Indian tribe is authorized to receive under its funding agreement in the year the interest is earned or in any subsequent fiscal year. Funds transferred under this subchapter shall be managed using the prudent investment standard. (i) All funds paid to an Indian tribe in accordance with a compact or funding agreement shall remain available until expended. In the event that an Indian tribe elects to carry over funding from 1 year to the next, such carryover shall not diminish the amount of funds the Indian tribe is authorized to receive under its funding agreement in that or any subsequent fiscal year. (j) All Medicare, Medicaid, or other program income earned by an Indian tribe shall be treated as supplemental funding to that negotiated in the funding agreement. The Indian tribe may retain all such income and expend such funds in the current year or in future years except to the extent that the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) provides otherwise for Medicare and Medicaid receipts. Such funds shall not result in any offset or reduction in the amount of funds the Indian tribe is authorized to receive under its funding agreement in the year the program income is received or for any subsequent fiscal year. (k) An Indian tribe shall not be obligated to continue performance that requires an expenditure of funds in excess of the amount of funds transferred under a compact or funding agreement. If at any time the Indian tribe has reason to believe that the total amount provided for a specific activity in the compact or funding agreement is insufficient the Indian tribe shall provide reasonable notice of such insufficiency to the Secretary. If the Secretary does not increase the amount of funds transferred under the funding agreement, the Indian tribe may suspend performance of the activity until such time as additional funds are transferred.