Coalition’s Policy Committee Travels to Washinton, DC to Meet with South Dakota Congressional Delegation.
Members of the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition’s Policy Committee traveled to Washington, DC on February 3-7, 2025 to join the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) Legislative Conference. Eric Shepherd, executive director of Sisseton Wahpeton Housing Authority, and Joe Shields, executive director of Crow Creek Housing Authority, also attended meetings with the South Dakota Congressional delegation to share housing and homeownership priorities for their communities. Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek and Crow Creek Housing Authority board member Brenda Sauze accompanied the group. Chairman Lengkeek was invited to deliver the opening prayer at the NAIHC meeting.
The group attended meetings with the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Bryan Mercier to discuss the need for streamlining the residential leasing and mortgage approval processes. Coalition members Juel Burnette from 1st Tribal Lending, April Anderson from Four Bands Community Fund, and Sharon Vogel, executive director of Cheyenne River Housing Authority, participated in the meeting remotely.
Other highlights included a meeting with staff from Senator John Thune’s office, where the group learned that Senator Thune will be reintroducing the Tribal Trust Land Homeownership Act, which will help to modernize BIA’s leasing and mortgage processes. They also met with Representative Dusty Johnson, who assured the group that he was educating his House colleagues about Tribal sovereignty, trust responsibility, and treaty obligations to help them to understand that Tribal nations should not be subject to DEI Executive Orders that were announced by President Trump.
They also met with Senator Mike Rounds to thank him for his support of the Native American Direct Loan Reform Act, which was enacted last December. In addition, they discussed the Senator’s plans to continue to work on rural housing reform legislation that would include authorizing language for the USDA 502 Native CDFI relending program. The group also recommended that any tax legislation that Congress considers during the budget reconciliation process should include provisions to stimulate economic development through better access to tax credits in Indian Country including New Markets Tax Credits, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and the ability for tribal governments to issue tax exempt bonds.
Finally, the group participated in a briefing for staff members from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about Native homeownership issues. The Coalition’s policy committee, which is chaired by Sharon Vogel and JC Crawford, will continue to monitor Executive Branch actions from the Trump Administration and legislative activities to keep Coalition members informed about any policies that may impact their work.