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- By Native News Online Staff
WASHINGTON — In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other news released from Washington, D.C. that impacts Indian Country recently.
Support for Tribal Libraries Available from the FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Monday a program that would assist Tribal libraries in applying for E-Rate Support. This is in collaboration with the Universal Service Administrative Company.
This will be one-on-one assistance to libraries seeking E-Rate program support during the upcoming 2023 funding year. Assistance will include help with preparing for, applying for and receiving E-Rate support. Applications are due by November 18, 2022. The application can be found here.
The E-Rate program can provide discounts of up to 90 percent of the costs for broadband connections and up to 85 percent of the costs for internal connections. Rules have been recently changed to open this program up to more Tribal libraries.
Any questions or concerns can be directed to [email protected].
TTAC Held Meeting in D.C. on October 26
The Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) met for the ninth time on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.
The six-member TTAC was joined by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen for opening remarks, and Treasurer of the United States, Chief Lynn Malerba.
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe Chairman W. Ron Allen was elected to chair the TTAC. .Sharon Edenfield, Tribal Council Member for the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, was elected to serve as vice chair of the TTAC.
FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program Provides Funds to Tribal Households
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more.
The Affordable Connectivity Program is an FCC benefit program that provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands.
Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.
Department of Energy to Host a Webinar
The U.S. Department of Energy will host a webinar on the National Transmission Needs Study Consultation Draft Overview for Tribes.
The Needs Study is DOE’s triennial state of the grid report. The Study provides information about both current and anticipated future capacity constraints and congestion on the nation’s electric transmission grid. DOE will release the draft 2023 study in fall 2022 for comment and feedback and this webinar will serve to provide an overview of the draft and take Q&A.
To read the 2020 report, please visit www.energy.gov/oe/
Please see below for Zoom information.
Monday, November 07, 2022
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please register here.
Neely Bardwell (descendant of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians), a Michigan State University student who is a staff reporter for Native News Online, contributed to these briefs.
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