These may be strong words, but I believe is necessary

 

 

Sandra-

 

Thank you for your inquiry.  I agree that the written stated purpose of the Session "to distribute the members more evenly that sit on the committees"  was a failure, which leads me to believe that was not a real purpose of the Session, particularly since Deb was prohibited from participating, and there were judgment calls made that caused further imbalance and mistrust.

 

I am copying some of the other members with this e-mail information and I'm sure you can contact them about their goals for the special session, and what happened to some responsibilities, because I really don't know.  I was not opposed to some consolidation among standing committees at the beginning of the next regular session, and made written suggestions to that effect, but they were obviously dismissed.  I thought the five member Committee on Committees was necessary to help "distribute members evenly" and with those that worked best together, and to address personal and professional conflicts within committees.  After yesterday, I believe that more strongly, because there are simply people that don't work well together, and the fact that someone "signs up" for a (or all) committees should not require other members to choose between their health (mental and physical) and from serving on any committees for a year. Per yesterday, the responsibility for setting the slate for committees now falls on the Speaker. I guess conflicts go unaddressed.

 

As for the statistics you have asked for, the new committees are posted on the website, and from the information I have available, the numerical breakdown of committee membership old vs. new is this:

 

2007 Hun-Kah, Tzi-zho and interim  / 2008 Hun-Kah, Tzi-zho, interim and 2009 Hun-kah 

 

Anderson - 2007  4 committees        2008-2009   4 committees

Branstetter- 2007  5 committees       2008-2009   3 committees

Edwards- 2007 5 committees           2008-2009   1 committee

Freeman- 5 committees                  2008-2009   1 committee 

Littleton- 4 committees                   2008-2009   3 committees

Mason- 5 committees                     2008-2009   3 committees

Redcorn- 6 committees                   2008-2009   4 committees

Red Eagle- 6 committees                2008-2009    4 committees

Revard- 3 committees                     2008-2009   2 committees

Shackleford- 4 committees              2008-2009  4 committees

Simms- 4 committees                     2008-2009  2 committees  

Supernaw- 6 committees                 2008-2009  5 committees

 

There is one more "election" to Appropriations Committee, so those nummbers will change upward in some instances.

I will ask if there is information about the specific travel funds spent and the committee monthly meetings that the Speaker requested the Committees have last September. I don't have that now.

 

Yes, I did say yesterday that the Committee "restructure" will result in one Committee being responsible for 65% of all anticipated committee work, and I still believe that to be true, unless the Speaker assigns bills and budgets outside of the stated jurisdiction, which then makes the rule "descriptions of jursidiction" wrong. I proposed an amendment to remove those descriptions, which I don't think make sense, particularly when they include non-government entities which the Congress clearly has no jurisdiction over, but the amendment was defeated.  I was told the Legislative writer was not asked and did not help with this latest Rules drafting effort, and perhaps there is confusion over the meaning of the term "jurisdiction".

 

I have less committee and oversight responsibilities now, so I view this as a chance to work on legislation that benefits all elders, education, those with health care needs, and better organization and reduction in waste. The success or failure of your suggested spending issues lies mainly with the Congressional Affairs Committee for the Legislature, and the standing committees. I will continue to try to represent you fairly and I appreciate your call and support.  

 

 

Regards,

Shannon L. Edwards

 

 

 

 

Osage News - Tzi-Zho Congressional Update Day 8 – Budget Cuts Could Affect Minerals Council. Christmas Bonuses Are Out

September 12, 2007

EXECUTIVE

By Shannon Shaw

Osage News

The Geographical Information Systems program was eliminated from the Environmental and Natural Resources budget in the Congressional Natural Resources committee. 

This came as a surprise to Diane Daniels, ENR director, because the GIS position is essential for her to run her department, she said. Not to mention it also affects the Osage Nation Minerals Council and the Tribal Historic Preservation Department. 

 “[The committee] recommended not to pass GIS. That is the program that collects all the environmental and natural resource data and pulls it into a database and provides the ability to produce maps for all the data,” Daniels said. “It’s an analytical tool that is used for evaluating and assessing contamination problems and it has one full time position that is for a person that is already in my office.”

Daniels said that the committee was concerned that the GIS program was overlapping duties with the Bureau of Indian Affairs when the Minerals Council was concerned, she said. The BIA does not provide the GIS service to her department, she said.

Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, Congresswoman Faren Revard Anderson, said that the committee didn't feel like they had enough information in order to make an informed decision.

 "The committee had some discussion that day and the consensus that day was that we had just heard about [the GIS program] at that moment and we suggested that Diane [Daniels] perhaps come in and give us more information," Anderson said. "We're hoping to re-meet tomorrow or Friday, I don't have a date yet." 

 The natural resources committee sent the ENR budget, without the GIS program, to the Budget and Finance committee to be reviewed, Jaye Chissoe, assistant legislative writer, said. If passed, then the ENR budget will be included in the final draft of the FY08 budget and will go before Congress for a vote. If passed by the committee, it will then await the signature of Principal Chief Jim Gray. 

The ENR department is just one department, among the more than 100 departments within the Osage Nation tribal government, which is having their FY08 budget reviewed by Congress.

On Monday, Sept. 10, the Budget and Finance Committee cut more than $600,000 in proposed increases to the Executive Branch’s budget and cut tribal employees Christmas bonuses.

 In an email to constituents, Congressman Raymond Red Corn wrote that Congress was just doing their job.

“Last night’s actions by the Budget and Finance Committee should not be overstated.  We were just doing our job. You won’t be able to look this up in the journal – the 2008 budget for the Nation was being drafted – but the Congress clearly established its claim as a co-equal branch of government last night,” Red Corn wrote in the email. “The $500 per employee “bonus” paid at the end of last year was cut from the draft appropriations bill, as employee insurance premiums paid by the tribe had gone up about $1,800 per employee per year, and the step increases will cost about $480-$720 per employee.  Facing around 1 million in increased labor and benefit costs, Congress chose the option least painful [financially] for employees, the end-of-year bonus.”

 A consensus was reached among Budget and Finance Committee members that step increases, small increases in pay for all employees, would be granted this year, Red Corn wrote in the email. But, in the very near future a freeze would be put in place on wages and salaries until evaluation tools for the performance and efficiency of programs is in place and producing results for Congress to review during the budget process. Additionally, Congress will require the passage and implementation of a Merit Pay system, required by the Constitution, before additional pay increases are budgeted, Red Corn wrote in the email. 

 But the GIS program in the ENR department is the first step when understanding the mineral resource on the reservation, Talee Red Corn, Minerals Council member, said.

“Minerals, [Congress], the Chief, all down the line, are making decisions on very little information and we do not understand the value of what we have, the value of the resources. So in essence, when somebody comes to the table with a bid or a prospect or anything that has to do with oil and gas, we have nothing to compare it to,” Talee Red Corn said. “So this GIS process is the first steps in completing fundamental steps to understand our mineral resource and try, and I say try, really try to understand the value of it. With that information, those two pieces, we can make better decisions and negotiate better for the benefit of the shareholders and the tribe.”

The GIS department costs approximately $142,000 and the salary for the position is $48,470 without fringe benefits, Daniels said. Fringe benefits cost $12,786, she said. 

GIS works as a visible database by creating maps to locate and keep track of Osage cultural historic and archaeological sites, burial locations, and sacred sites, Dr. Andrea Hunter, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, said. 

“This is a significant information tracking and predictive modeling tool,” Hunter said. “When economic, oil, and gas development proposals are presented to the Osage Nation, GIS would allow us to quickly and precisely determine if any significant Osage cultural resources would be impacted by the ground disturbing activities. We would also, based on multiple environmental and cultural variables, be able to predict, based on previously located cultural sites, more accurately the potential for unknown cultural sites to be present in a proposed location.”

Members of Congress on the Natural Resources Committee are Congresswoman Faren Revard Anderson, Congressman Mark Simms, Speaker of the Congress Archie Mason and Congressman Anthony Shackelford. The Budget and Finance Committee is comprised of Congresswoman Shannon Edwards, Congressmen Raymond Red Corn, Mark Freeman, Eddy Red Eagle Jr., William “Kugee” Supernaw and Congresswoman Jerri Jean Branstetter.

All congressional sessions can be heard live, via Web cast, from the Osage Nation chambers. Audio files are also archived on the Web site.

The session will continue for the next 16 days, with the exception of Sundays and holidays, and all agendas, bill tracking and committee meeting times can be viewed on the Osage Nation Web site. 

The Osage Nation Congress consists of twelve members who serve as the elected legislative body of the Osage Nation.