Tribal Council approves first reading of general welfare assistance programs ordinance

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved a first reading of its general welfare assistance and supplemental general welfare assistance programs ordinance at its Wednesday, June 25, meeting.

The ordinance will establish assistance payment programs to provide for the needs of Tribal members in maintaining their health, well-being, independence and quality of life, and make these payments not subject to federal income tax.

“This also has a provision for supplemental security payments, similar to the Elder payments, to make it so that the income is also not included as income in determining benefits under the SSI programs, so Tribal members should not receive a reduction in SSI payments when they receive this payment,” Tribal Senior Staff Attorney Deneen Auberlin Keller said during a Tuesday, June 24, Legislative Action Committee meeting.

Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said that this would be an extension of the Tribe’s general welfare ordinance.

“The council staff have worked on this for a lot of years in terms of general welfare related issues…multiple years of comments about how it impacts Tribal members here,” he said. “There was engagement by Youth Council, by staff and others working on issues and bringing this about…These things don’t just happen overnight.”  

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved amendments to the Tribal retirement plan that include changing eligibility deferrals from a year to three months, provide that participant elective deferrals may not exceed 85% of a participant’s income and allow for in-plan Roth IRA transfers; and also approved amendments to the Baird investment policy statements regarding investment management structure, domestic and international diversification guidelines and benchmark identification;
• Approved a Tribal credit card Wildland Fire Engine Boss Steve Ashby with a credit limit of $5,000;
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Klamath Tribes for police training;
• Approved appointing Marianne Blanchard and Nikki Grefsrud to the Veterans Special Events Board with terms ending March 31, 2027;
• Approved two proposed temporary easements with the city of Portland for a road improvement project at 82^nd Avenue, where the Tribe’s Portland Great Circle Recovery facility is located;
• Approved appointing Angella Schultz to the Health Committee with a term ending March 31, 2027;
• And approved the enrollment of six infants and an emergency enrollment of one non-infant minor into the Tribe because they meet the requirements under the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.