SI 00830: Unearned Income
TN 119 (12-12)
A. Background on the Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Settlement
American Indian tribes filed lawsuits alleging that the Federal Government mismanaged monetary assets and natural resources held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the tribes. On April 11, 2012, several tribes agreed to settle their cases with the Government.
Under these agreements, the Government will pay about $1 billion to the tribes in total. The amount paid to each tribe varies considerably. Under the agreements, each tribe may decide how to use the settlement funds and whether to distribute these funds as per capita payments to individual tribe members. Per capita payments are payments made according to the number of individuals in a specific group and in which each individual shares equally.
B. Policy for income and resource exclusion
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For purposes of determining eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicare Part D Extra Help, we exclude the Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Settlement per capita payments received by individual tribe members, pursuant to these settlement agreements from income and resources.
NOTE: For instructions on applying the income and resource exclusions for the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 (Cobell v. Salazar), refer to SI 00830.852.
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The resource exclusion also applies to initial purchases made with funds received from these settlements. However, the resource exclusion does not apply to proceeds from the sale or conversion of initial purchases or subsequent purchases. For more information on the conversion or the sale of a resource, see SI 00815.200.
EXAMPLE: Lisa Madison receives a per capita payment of $7000 from her tribe based on the Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Lawsuit Settlement Agreement. We exclude the initial receipt of the per capita payment from income and resources. Lisa purchases a car with the funds. We also exclude the car as a resource because it is an initial purchase made with settlement funds. Later, Lisa sells the car to her brother for $3,000. The money she receives from the sale of the car is not income because it is the conversion of a resource. If Lisa retains the funds, they are countable as a resource the first moment of the following month.
C. Documenting the receipt of settlement funds for SSI
If an applicant or recipient reports receipt of a per capita payment pursuant to a Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Settlement, explain that the payment does not affect eligibility for SSI.
1. Documenting the allegation on a Report of Contact (DROC) screen
Identify and document the following:
the settlement fund;
the amount of the per capita payment;
the date of receipt;
the status of the funds (retained as cash, in a financial account, or used for an initial purchase); and
that the Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Settlement payment is excludable from income and resources.
EXAMPLE of DROC input: “The recipient reported receipt of $5,000 from the (name of tribe) Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Settlement on May 10, 2012. The recipient deposited the per capita payment into his or her savings account. This payment is excludable from income and resources.”
2. Documenting an initial purchase with settlement money within MSSICS
Document the value and exclusion amount of an initial purchase on the appropriate MSSICS screen (e.g., RFIA, RVEH). This documentation will be helpful for determining if the resource exclusion applies, if the recipient later reports making a purchase with settlement funds. For example, documentation of a vehicle on the RVEH screen would indicate whether the recipient already made an initial purchase with settlement funds.
D. Tribes with settlement agreements
The following is a list of the tribes with settlement agreements (Names appear on this list as they appear on the settlement agreement.)
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Ak-Chin Indian Community |
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Aleut Committee of St. Paul Island |
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*Arapaho Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation (Northern Arapaho Tribe) |
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Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation |
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*Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation) |
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Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation |
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*Bois Forte Band of Chippewa (Bois Forte Band Nett Lake), a component of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe |
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*Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Rancheria (Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community of Colusa Rancheria) |
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Caddo Nation of Oklahoma |
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Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma |
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Cheyenne River Sioux |
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Chickasaw Nation |
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Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation |
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Choctaw Nation |
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Coeur d’Alene Tribe |
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Colorado River Indian Tribes |
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Comanche Nation |
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Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes |
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Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation |
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Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation |
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Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama |
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Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation |
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*Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon) |
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Crow Creek Sioux |
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Crow Tribe of Montana |
*Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma (Delaware Tribe of Indians and Delaware Trust Board) |
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Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma |
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Gila River Indian Community |
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Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians |
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Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation |
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Hoopa Valley Tribe |
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*Hualapai Tribe (Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation) |
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Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska |
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Jicarilla Apache Nation |
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*Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of Arizona (Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab Indian Reservation) |
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Kaw Nation of Oklahoma |
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*Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas (Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas) |
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Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma |
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Klamath Tribes |
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*Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin) |
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*Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin) |
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*Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians or Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe) |
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Lower Brule Sioux Tribe |
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Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation |
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Mescalero Apache Nation |
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Miami Tribe of Oklahoma |
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Muscogee (Creek) Nation |
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Minnesota Chippewa Tribe |
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Native Village of Atka |
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*Navajo Nation (Navajo Tribe of Indians) |
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Nez Perce Tribe |
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*Nooksack Indian Tribe (Nooksack Tribe and Nooksack Indian Tribe of Washington) |
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Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Indians |
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Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians |
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Oglala Sioux Tribe |
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Omaha Tribe of Nebraska |
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*Osage Tribe of Oklahoma (also Osage Nation) |
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Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma |
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Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony |
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Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine |
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Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma |
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Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation |
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Penobscot Indian Nation |
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Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma |
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Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation |
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Pueblo of Acoma |
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Pueblo of Zia |
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Pueblo of Laguna |
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Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma |
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Qawalangin Tribe |
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Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation |
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Quinault Indian Nation |
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Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa |
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*Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians (Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Rincon Reservation) |
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Rosebud Sioux Tribe |
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Round Valley Tribes |
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Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community |
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Samish Indian Nation |
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San Carlos Apache Tribe |
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San Luis Rey Indian Water Authority |
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*Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska (Santee Sioux Nation) |
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*Sault Ste. Marie Tribe (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan) |
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Seminole Nation of Oklahoma |
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Seminole Tribe of Florida |
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Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation |
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*Shoshone Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation (Eastern Shoshone Tribe) |
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Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation |
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Skokomish Indian Tribe |
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Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians |
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*Sokaogon Chippewa Indian Community (formerly Mole Lake) |
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Southern Ute Indian Tribe |
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Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation (Spirit Lake Tribe) |
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*Spokane Tribe of Indians (Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation) |
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Standing Rock Sioux Tribe |
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Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians |
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Summit Lake Paiute Tribe |
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Swinomish Indian Tribal Community |
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Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians |
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The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation |
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Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation |
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Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska |
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Tohono O’odham Nation |
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Tonkawa Tribe |
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Tulalip Tribes |
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*Tule River Indian Tribe (Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation) |
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Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation |
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*Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation) |
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*White Earth Nation (White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe) |
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Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska Reservation |
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Yurok Tribe |
*The tribe has more than one name according to the settlement agreement. Additional names are within the parenthesis.
E. References
SI 00830.830 Indian-Related Exclusions
SI 00815.200 Conversion or Sale of a Resource
SI 00830.852 The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 (Cobell v. Salazar)
SI 01130.700 Identifying Excluded Funds That Have Been Commingled With Non-Excluded Funds