Office of Insular Affairs Applauds President Trump Signing the FY 2020 Budget and FY 2020 NDAA

FY 2020 Budget Highlights:

• Five million-dollar payment to the Trust Fund for the People of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) for Tax and Trade compensation made available under the Compact of Free Association;
• Medicaid funding increases for all the U.S. territories in 2020 and 2021;
• Number of permits increased for foreign construction workers allowed to support disaster recovery in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) through 2022; and
• Two million-dollar increase in energy, maintenance, operations, coral reef preservation and other funding that benefits the insular areas.

FY 2020 NDAA Highlight:

• Directs a study on the condition of Runit Dome in the RMI.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Douglas W. Domenech applauds President Trump and Congress for signing the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, Public Law 116-94, which includes funding increases for key programs provided by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) to the insular areas, provides temporary increases in Medicaid funding for the territories, increases the number of foreign construction workers permitted to support disaster recovery in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and includes a $5 million dollar payment to the Trust Fund for the People of the Republic of the Marshall Islands for Tax and Trade compensation provided for under the Compact of Free Association. Assistant Secretary Domenech also applauded the signing of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 116-92, which directed studies to be done on Runit Dome in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

“The President has signed budget and defense authorization legislation that includes several provisions important to our work and for the people in the insular areas,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech. “We appreciate the President and Congress for their mindfulness and attention in providing funding and support for the U.S. territories and freely associated states.”

Additional detail on the highlights are as follow:

OFFICE OF INSULAR AFFAIRS BUDGET INCREASES: The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) received a $2.2 million increase in its budget for fiscal year (FY) 2020. The OIA programs that received additional funding for FY 2020 are Energizing Insular Communities, American Samoa Operations, the Maintenance Assistance Program, the Coral Reef and Natural Resources Initiative, and the Enewetak Program.

PERMITS FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS: The legislation directs Homeland Security to provide 3,000 additional permits for foreign workers in construction and extraction occupations in the CNMI for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022 related to typhoon recovery.

TAX AND TRADE COMPENSATION TO THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS (RMI): An amount of $5 million for the benefit of the RMI to compensate for adverse financial and economic impacts as authorized by the Compact of Free Association, as amended, or Public Law 108-188. The $5 million is designated for deposit to the Trust Fund for the People of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Trust Fund, as established under Public Law 108-188, will provide a source of income to the RMI government when direct grants under current law expire in 2023.

MEDICAID: The FY 2020 budget included several important changes with respect to Medicaid for the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The key change provides a temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) from the statutory level currently set at 55 percent to the maximum of 83 percent, two figures both set by law under the Social Security Act. The change takes effect for the period beginning December 21, 2019 and ending September 30, 2021.

RUNIT DOME: The FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), also signed by President Trump on December 20, 2019, includes a provision requiring the Secretary of Energy to submit by June 2020 a report on the status of Runit Dome in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The report is to include 1) a detailed plan to repair the dome; 2) effects on the environment that the dome has currently and is projected to have in five years, ten years, and twenty years; 3) an assessment of the current condition of the outer constructs of the dome; 4) an assessment of the current and long-term safety to local humans; 5) an assessment of how rising sea levels might affect the dome; and 6) a summery of bilateral interactions between the U.S. and the RMI about the dome. The report is to be made available to the public.

The full text of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94) is available at: https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr1865/BILLS-116hr1865enr.pdf

The full text of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92) is available at: https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s1790/BILLS-116s1790enr.pdf

For more information on the Office of Insular Affairs, visit www.doi.gov/oia or follow Assistant Secretary Domenech on Twitter at @ASIIADomenech.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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