For many years, this act was interpreted to exclude Native Americans living in or near tribal areas. With the recently enacted Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (regulations are scheduled to take effect on October 1, 1997), the Congress completed the process of separating Indian housing from public housing. Through its Native American Programs headquarters office and its six field offices, and with the help of approximately 189 Indian housing authorities (IHA), HUD administers the majority of the housing programs that benefit Native American families in or near tribal areas. Among the challenges and conditions highlighted in our discussions with officials of HUD and several IHAs, as well as in the May 1996 study by the Urban Institute, are the remoteness and limited human resources of many IHAs and the Native American communities they serve; the lack of suitable land and the inhospitality of the climate; the difficulty contractors and IHAs have in complying with statutory requirements to give hiring preference to Native Americans; and the pressure that vandalism, tenants’ neglect, and unpaid rent put on scarce maintenance funds. However, HUD officials told us that this requirement generally increases IHAs’ cost of developing housing in tribal areas. Native American Housing Assistance and Self- Determination Act of 1996 Could Initially Increase HUD’s Workload

By establishing a block grant mechanism to replace all housing assistance that tribes currently receive indirectly through their IHAs and HUD—except for the funding set aside for Native Americans in the Community Development Block Grant Program—the act allows greater discretion for tribes to address their housing needs. Among other provisions, the new statute also provides the following:
The existing housing authority or some other entity designated by a tribe must administer the block grant funds and develop 1-year and 5-year housing plans for HUD’s approval. The new act could, at least initially, cause HUD’s oversight workload to increase. She believes, moreover, that the new program’s success will depend on the extent to which HUD is effective in reviewing the required plans, monitoring the tribes’ implementation of the plans, and acting on potential noncompliance. Many Tribes Receive Gaming Revenues, but HUD Does Not Consider Them Directly When Determining Housing Assistance

About 177, or half of the 356 federally recognized tribes in the continental United States operated gaming facilities as of July 1996. Thus, to the extent that gaming revenues enhance tribes’ overall economic well-being, HUD considers them indirectly in its funding allocations. Of this amount, 74 tribes received about $1.2 billion in transfers from their gaming facilities. HUD Is Not Required and Lacks the Data to Take Gaming Revenues Directly Into Account

For the most part, housing needs are the primary factor that HUD is required to consider when allocating funds to IHAs for housing programs. Nevertheless, the act requires HUD to develop a housing assistance allocation formula that reflects the housing needs of Indian tribes and is based on (1) the number of low-income units owned or operated pursuant to a contract between the Department and IHAs; (2) the extent of poverty and economic distress within tribal areas; and (3) other objectively measurable conditions specified by HUD, which, we believe, could include business revenues. Funding and Results for Major Housing Programs for Native Americans

The funding for and accomplishments of HUD’s housing and community development programs for Native Americans have been steady or increasing in proportion to the increases in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriations over the 1986-95 decade, as discussed below. From 1961, when Native Americans first began to receive assistance under the Housing Act of 1937, through fiscal year 1995, HUD provided Indian housing authorities (IHA) over $5 billion (in nominal dollars) for Indian housing programs and constructed over 82,000 units.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a legislative requirement and a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) housing programs for Native Americans, focusing on the: (1) funding history and measurable results of the housing programs administered by HUD for Native Americans in or near tribal areas; (2) significant factors that complicate and make costly the provision of housing assistance to Native Americans in or near tribal areas; (3) potential initial impact of the recently enacted Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 on HUD's oversight of housing assistance to Native Americans living in or near tribal areas; and (4) the extent to which gaming occurs in tribal areas, its profitability, and whether HUD takes revenues from gaming into account when allocating funding to Native American housing authorities.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) from fiscal year (FY) 1986 through FY 1995, HUD provided $4.3 billion for housing and community development in tribal areas; (2) of this amount, HUD provided $3.9 billion to approximately 189 Indian housing authorities to develop and maintain affordable housing and assist low-income renters; (3) in this period, the authorities used the funds to construct over 24,000 single-family homes, operate and maintain existing housing, and encourage other development; (4) over the decade, HUD also provided direct block grants totalling over $424 million to eligible tribes for community development and mortgage assistance; (5) many factors complicate and make costly the development and maintenance of affordable housing for Native Americans; (6) these factors include the remoteness and limited human resources of many Indian housing authorities and the Indian communities they serve, land-use restrictions and the inhospitality of the land, the difficulty that contractors and Indian housing authorities have in complying with statutory requirements to give hiring preference to Native Americans, and vandalism and neglect, which draw on scarce maintenance funds; (7) HUD believes that, initially, its workload could increase as it monitors tribes' compliance with the new Indian housing legislation set to take effect on October 1, 1997; (8) the new act changes the way HUD provides housing assistance to Native Americans by requiring block grants to each of the over 550 federally recognized tribes instead of categorical grants to the 189 Native American housing authorities that currently exist; (9) moreover, to qualify for the block grants, tribes must submit housing plans for HUD's approval; (10) although the law requires HUD to conduct only a limited review of the tribes' plans, HUD officials believe that this activity will, for the first year at least, be a labor-intensive function for HUD field offices; (11) of the 356 Indian tribes in the continental United States alone, 177 operated 240 gaming facilities as of July 1996; (12) according to 1994 and 1995 data submitted by 85 of these tribes, their gaming revenues after expenses totalled about $1.5 billion; (13) HUD officials told GAO that they do not take gaming revenues directly into account when allocating funds because, in addition to these revenues, HUD would need to know other business revenues and federal assistance available to each tribe in order to determine a fair allocation; and (14) to the extent that HUD takes a tribe's general economic well-being and housing needs into account, it is indirectly factoring gaming revenues into its funding allocation decisions.