Report: 'Grossly inaccurate' data used to divvy up relief funds for tribes

[Backseat Driver]

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/report-grossly-inaccurate-data-used-to-divvy-up-relief-funds-for-tribes-9qkkHmeXj0uhRC42mXYqCA

Updated: The U.S. Treasury Department used outdated population numbers to determine how much money to give to tribes, despite having easy access to better figures, says a Harvard study
Joaqlin Estus
Indian Country Today

The U.S. Treasury Department relied on “grossly inaccurate” data in deciding how to divvy up billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief money for tribes, says a new Harvard study.

The agency ignored more up-to-date figures it required from tribes and instead went with outdated population data used by a federal housing program to distribute a portion of $8 billion in funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, according to Professor Joseph Kalt, co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and one of several authors of the report released Monday.

Its “arbitrary and capricious” decision means some tribes that would have been eligible for millions or tens of millions of dollars instead are getting the minimum of $100,000, Kalt said.

"What's kind of flabbergasting to us is: Treasury, you have this data sitting right there. Why didn't you use it?” he said. <snip>

[dhill926]

1. not surprising....

a fucking disgrace....

[2naSalit]

2. It's what we do.

Every f'ing time.