Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996

Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act of 1996

Long title	An act to provide Federal assistance for Indian tribes in a manner that recognizes the right of tribal self-governance, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	NAHASDA
Enacted by	the 104th United States Congress
Effective	September 1, 1997
Citations
Public law	Public Law 104–330
Statutes at Large	110 Stat. 4016
Codification
Acts amended	Housing Act of 1937
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 3219 by Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY) on March 29, 1996 Committee consideration by House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Passed the House on September 28, 1996 (voice vote) Passed the Senate on October 3, 1996 (unanimous consent) Signed into law by President William Jefferson Clinton on October 26, 1996
Major amendments
Public Law 106–569
United States Supreme Court cases
Arakaki v. Lingle (2002)

The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) simplifies and reorganizes the system of providing housing assistance to federally recognized Native American tribes to help improve their housing and other infrastructure. It reduced the regulatory strictures that burdened tribes and essentially provided for block grants so that they could apply funds to building or renovating housing as they saw fit. This was in line with other federal programs that recognized the sovereignty of tribes and allowed them to manage the funds according to their own priorities. A new program division was established at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that combined several previous programs into one block grant program committed to the goal of tribal housing. The legislation has been reauthorized and amended several times since its passage.

NAHASDA was one result of the broader historic campaign in the 20th century for Native American self-determination and the tribes regaining sovereignty.

Prior to NAHASDA, housing assistance for Native American tribes and Alaska Natives was provided by several different programs under the Housing Act of 1937 and other related, succeeding legislation. These programs included assistance for Indian housing development, public housing projects, child development, rental assistance, youth program assistance, and housing assistance for the homeless.

The programs greatly increased the quantity and quality of housing on Indian lands, but they had a variety of regulatory requirements, including separate application for grants and differing standards for eligibility; they required different obligations from the tribes. In addition, under these programs, public housing assistance on Indian reservations was considered an extension of other housing programs, and did not recognize the unique cultural and infrastructure needs of Native American communities, which were usually located in rural areas. Roger Biles describes how “The clustered housing prescribed for rental units clashed with the traditional living patterns of many Indians and, according to some IHA officials, resulted in the creation or exacerbation of problems previously rare in Native American populations such as gangs, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse.” These issues caused friction between HUD administrators and tribal leaders. A series of investigations in the 1990s also uncovered instances of corruption, fraud, and mismanagement.

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