Summary: Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on: (1) the extent, size, nature, and frequency of payments Indian tribes and organizations received from certain tribal trust funds; (2) how various federal welfare programs treated the payments in determining program eligibility; and (3) the reasons for legislated special exclusions of such payments.
GAO found that: (1) from 1984 through 1986, members of 55 Indian tribes received payments from tribal trust funds that totalled about $247 million; (2) members of 21 tribes received recurring, periodic payments that totalled about $157 million, while members of 35 tribes received sporadic or one-time payments of about $90 million; (3) 9,800 Indians received sporadic payments exceeding $2,000; and (4) annual payments varied from $12.61 to $9,000 per person. GAO also found that: (1) federal welfare program regulations and policies varied regarding the legislative exclusion of $2,000 from all tribal trust fund payments for non-Social Security program eligibility determinations; and (2) it could not determine the reasons for the legislative exclusion.
