You asked us to evaluate whether payments received by the members of the Sault Ste.
Marie Band of Chippewa Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community under the Michigan
Indian Land Claims Settlement Act are countable income for Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) purposes. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude the payments are neither
countable income nor resources for SSI purposes.
Background
Public Law 105-143, dated December 15, 1997, also known as the Michigan Indian Land
Claims Settlement Act (MILCSA), awarded funds in settlement of land claims made on
behalf of the members of certain Michigan Indian tribes, including the Sault Ste.
Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community. See MILCSA, Pub.
L. No. 105-143, § 102(a), 111 Stat. 2652, 2653 (1997).
Payments of judgment funds from the United States government to the Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe under the MILCSA were contributed to a Self-Sufficiency Fund. See id. §§ 104,
108(a), (e). The interest and other investment income of the Self-Sufficiency Fund
may be distributed as a dividend to tribal members or as a per capita payment to some
group or category of tribal members designated by the board of directors. See id.
§ 108(c)(2). In a letter dated January 23, 2009, Courtney A. Kachur, Tribal Attorney
for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, stated that all payments under
the MILCSA to the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe were put into the Self-Sufficiency Fund.
Elder members of the tribe receive yearly interest payments from the Self-Sufficiency
Fund.
Similarly, payments of judgment funds to the Bay Mills Indian Community were contributed,
in part, to a Land Claims Distribution Trust that makes annual payments to elder members
of the Bay Mills Indian Community. See MILCSA§§ 104, 107(b)-(d).
You first asked us to consider whether payments made to the members of the Sault Ste.
Marie Band of Chippewa Indians under the MILCSA are countable income for SSI purposes.
More recently, you also asked us to consider as well whether funds a claimant receives
from the Bay Mills Indian Community under the MILCSA are countable income for SSI
purposes.
Discussion
To be eligible for SSI benefits, an individual’s (and spouse’s, if any) income and
resources must not exceed the statutory limit. See 42 U.S.C. § 1382(a); see also 20
C.F.R. § 416.202(c), (d). Under the SSI program, all income and resources are generally
countable unless excluded from consideration by statute. See 42 U.S.C. § 1382(a).
42 U.S.C. § 1382a(b) contains a list of specific exclusions to the SSI income counting
requirements of the statute. The Agency’s regulation set forth at 20 C.F.R. § 416.1124
reflects the unearned income[1] exclusions of § 1382a(b) and also provides for exclusions
mandated by other Federal laws. Similarly, 42 U.S.C. § 1382b(a) and its implementing
regulation at 20 C.F.R. § 416.1210 provide for exclusions from the SSI resource counting
requirements. In particular, agency regulations exclude certain unearned income and
resources that are specifically excluded by other federal laws. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 416.1124(b)
(“Some Federal laws other than the Social Security Act provide that we cannot count
some of your unearned income for SSI purposes.”),
[1] The payments received by the members of the Sault Ste. Marie Band of Chippewa
Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community under the MILCSA are a type of unearned
income. See 42 U.S.C. § 1382a(a)(2). 416.1210(j) (excluding from resources “[p]ayments
or benefits provided under a Federal statute other than title XVI of the Social Security
Act where exclusion is required by such statute”).
Here, the clear language of Section 111 of the MILCSA states that payments made to
individuals from the funds established under the MILCSA should not be considered as
either income or resources when assessing eligibility for or the benefit amount of
other government programs, which includes SSI benefits. In relevant part, the MILCSA
states:
The eligibility for or receipt of distributions under this Act by a tribe or individual
shall not be considered as income, resources, or otherwise when determining the eligibility
for or computation of any payment or other benefit to such tribe, individual, or household
under—
(1) any financial aid program of the United States, including grants and contracts
subject to the Indian Self-Determination Act; or
(2) any other benefit to which such tribe, household, or individual would otherwise
be entitled to under any Federal or federally assisted program.
MILCSA § 111.
The agency has acknowledged this exclusion by listing Section 111 of the MILCSA in
the Appendix to Subpart K of 20 C.F.R. Part 416, which lists the types of income excluded
under the SSI program by federal laws other than the Social Security Act. Appendix
K specifically cites as excluded income “[judgment funds distributed under section
111 of the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, (Pub. L. 105-143, 111 Stat.
2665).” 20 C.F.R. Part 416, Subpart K, Appendix, Section IV(b)(37). Any payments made
to members of the Sault Ste. Marie Band of Chippewa Indians or of the Bay Mills Indian
Community under the MILCSA would fall under this provision and, as a result, should
not be treated as countable income for SSI purposes. Similarly, the regulations state
that these funds should also be excluded as a countable resource. See 20 C.F.R. §
416.1236(a)(2) (excluding from resources “[p]ayments made to Native Americans as listed
in paragraphs (b) and (c) of section IV of the appendix to subpart K of part 416,
as provided by Federal statutes other than the Social Security Act”).[1]
[1] You indicated that POMS SI
00830.830(C)(3) may apply to these payments. That provision acknowledges that under the Per
Capita Act, Pub. L. No. 98-64, 97 Stat. 365 (1983), “per capita distributions of funds
held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior to members of an Indian tribe are excluded
from income and resources.” POMS SI 00830.830(C)(3) (emphasis added). The Per Capita Act explains that funds which are held in
trust by the Secretary of the Interior for an Indian tribe and which are to be distributed
per capita to members of that tribe may be so distributed by either the Secretary
or the tribe (at the request of the tribe and with the Secretary’s approval). See
Per Capita Act, Introduction. We do not believe that the Per Capita Act, and hence
POMS SI 00830.830(C)(3), apply here, as the judgment funds under the MILCSA are not held in trust by
the Secretary of the Interior. Rather, they are held in trust by the specific Indian
tribes. See MILCSA §§ 107-109.
Conclusion
For the reasons discussed above, we conclude that payments made to members of the
Sault Ste. Marie Band of Chippewa Indians and of the Bay Mills Indian Community under
the MILCSA are not countable as either income or resources for SSI purposes.