• building support for congressional passage of HR1806 and S804, the Empowering Rural Economies Through Alaska Native Sustainable Arts and Handicrafts Act introduced March 14, 2019 by Congressman Young, and Senators Sullivan and Murkowski, respectively. The bill amend the marine mammal protection act to prohibit states from passing bans walrus ivory bans impacting Alaska Native artists.
• expanding opportunities for Indian self-determination in sanitation in Alaska to address the lack of running water and sewer in Alaska Native villages; urging Congress to overturn an IHS SDS decision to treat Alaska Native villages as Non-Indian for the purposes of sanitation spending.
• requesting the Alaska Delegation to address the barriers to housing development in rural Alaska
• Kawerak made requests for assistance with our Alaska Delegation and the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs to remove regulatory burdens of the Tribal Transportation programs by eliminating new requirements contained in section CFR 170.443(a) and (b) which puts 8 new requirements for existing roads and proposed roads in the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory; as well as eliminating the 15 mile radius for Alaska Native villages.
• Request the Alaska Delegation to continue adequate appropriations for addressing the lack of sanitation systems in Alaska Native villages including the USDA Rural and Alaska Native Village Grant program; the EPA's Alaska Rural and Native Villages Grant program; and convening the federal agencies with the purpose of advancing self governance in sanitation at the regional and village level through the streamlining of sanitation funding regulated by the federal agencies. Urge IHS Headquarters reverse a decision in their Sanitation Deficiency Manuel to treat Alaska Native villages as non-Native communities. Support adequate funding for advancing Indian Self Determination for sanitation programs.

Duration: July 5, 2017 to June 30, 2020

General Issues: Natural Resources, Indian/Native American Affairs, Housing, Roads/Highway, Utilities, Marine/Maritime/Boating/Fisheries

Spending: about $0 (But it's complicated. Here's why.)

It can be tricky to figure out how much an organization spent on a particular lobbying engagement. The law only requires lobbyists to report the amount they were paid for federal lobbying each quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000—and if it's less than $3,000 in a given quarter (or less than $13,000 for organizations with in-house lobbyists), they don't have to disclose it at all. Plus, some organizations include spending that doesn’t belong in the report—for instance, money spent lobbying state governments or other legal work.

Agencies lobbied since 2017: U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, Interior - Dept of (DOI), Housing & Urban Development - Dept of (HUD), Indian Health Service, Agriculture - Dept of (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)