By ROSELYNN YAZZIE
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — The Bureau of Indian Affairs Fort Hall Agency and Office of Special Trustee remain closed going into the fourth week of the government shutdown. Unlike past shutdowns Randy Thompson, Superintendent for the BIA Fort Hall Agency said generally he had to go to work for daily meetings and conference calls with the regional office and Washington office but this time he was furloughed also and hasn’t been updated at all.
“I don't know anything more than anybody, as far as what’s happening,” he said.
They furloughed all BIA, including the superintendents except for one per region. They started out with the superintendent from Yakama and now it’s the superintendent from Colville.
Thompson has sent some questions to the regional director and only received a few responses.
Thompson said all he advises people to do is watch the news.
From the Fort Hall BIA, 15 employees have been affected, also one contractor and three OST employees.
Thompson said many of the employees at the agency live paycheck to paycheck like everyone else. He said it’s hard to get another job because if they’re called back they will probably go back to work. If employees get unemployment they will need to pay it back if they get back pay.
“Everyone’s kind of stuck,” he said.
Thompson said his children are grown up but he knows many of their staff have young children or are single parents and it’s got to be hard on them.
Thompson said it’s nice that a couple of the banks in town gave people no interest loans on their paychecks if they have direct deposit. There are little things like that that will help out in the short term, but if it keeps going they probably won’t continue to do that.
Thompson says he wishes he had more answers, but he doesn’t.
“I feel for the folks,” said Thompson. He would like to see the politicians get people back to work and then workout the details of their argument.
He knows people are waiting on lease payments and he understands and wishes they could do something about it. He said it’s not just hurting the people at the agency but hurting the whole tribes.
He encourages people to call the congressman and the Senators to voice their opinion to get things handled. He has called them everyday and encourages them to at least vote on opening the government back up.
The OST Trust Beneficiary Call Center is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the number is 1-888-678-6836.
IIM account holders who have their IIM accounts on voluntary hold (the money stays in the accounts until it is requested) can call the Call Center to request the funds be sent to them. In addition, IIM account holders needing to update addresses or make other changes to their accounts can also use the Call Center.
Because of reduced staffing at the Call Center there may be a delay in processing account updates. Callers need to be patient and stay on the line until the call is picked up.
Concerning lease payments that haven’t yet been received, Fort Hall Agency Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent Randy Thompson said if a farmer pays an invoice with the bar code listed, the payment is directly put into people’s accounts. If the payment is done manually, no payment is completed because of the shutdown.