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- By Brian Edwards
- Finance
A national Native American financial advocacy group is warning that a proposed U.S. Treasury deadline change could disrupt tribal governments from deploying federal funds for small- business lending.
In a policy bulletin released Friday, Washington, D.C.-based NAFOA said Treasury officials plan to move the expenditure deadline for tribal participants in the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) from October 2026 to November 2025 — cutting nearly a year from the period tribes have to deploy their funds.
NAFOA said it learned from Treasury officials and tribal leaders that the administration is considering the deadline acceleration as it evaluates its priorities and funding alignment, according to a statement from the organization.
Tribal Business News reached out to the Treasury to confirm whether the agency is considering changes to the tribal SSBCI expenditure deadline, but the department did not immediately respond.
The shift would affect the bulk of the more than $523 million in SSBCI capital allocated to 235 tribal governments under the 2021 American Rescue Plan. Forty-eight of NAFOA’s 185 member tribes received SSBCI funding totaling nearly $369 million.
In a letter to congressional leaders dated Thursday, NAFOA President Rodney Butler said the change could have “severe consequences” for tribal governments and Native-owned businesses. Butler chairs the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and wrote on behalf of NAFOA’s board and the organization’s 185 member tribes.
Most tribes received their first tranche of SSBCI funding in fall 2023, establishing a three-year statutory window to deploy at least 80% of those funds before requesting subsequent funding, Butler wrote. Many tribal programs have only spent 20% to 30% of their initial funding as they build lending systems and identify small businesses to support.
SSBCI provides capital to states, territories and tribal governments to expand access to capital for small businesses. The program, originally created in 2010 after the financial crisis, allows participating tribal governments to design their own lending programs through partnerships with banks, credit unions and Native community development development financial institutions.
“This dramatic shift would jeopardize one of the most significant capital access programs ever available to Indian Country,” NAFOA wrote in a statement to Tribal Business News. “Prematurely recapturing these funds would deprive Tribal governments, Native Community Development Financial Institutions, and Native-owned businesses of essential capital at a crucial stage of development.”
NAFOA has urged tribal leaders and others to write Congress in support of retaining the original October 2026 deadline.
Chez Oxendine contributed reporting.
