Moratorium on AIPRA Contains a memo from Catherine A. Aragon, Assistant General Counsel to the President, Vice-President, and Members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on the request to advocate for a two-year moratorium on the implementation of the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA). The ILWG supports this request and would advocate for a moratorium until the issues as outlined in the memo are addressed.

ILWG Testimony S. 1439 (3/28/06) This ILWG testimony given by Chair Austin Nunez comments on S.1439 in the following areas: Negotiated Rulemaking; Access to Accurate Trust Records; Title II, Indian Trust Asset Management Policy Review Commission; Title III, Indian Trust Asset Management Demonstration Project Act; Title IV, Fractionated Interest Purchase & Consolidation Program; Title V, Restructuring the Bureau of Indian Affairs & the Office of the Special Trustee; Title VI, Audit of Indian Trust Funds.

Negotiated Rulemaking Overview The ILWG has recommended the negotiated rulemaking process as provided for in the  Negotiated  Rulemaking Act of 1990, as the only means by which Tribes can obtain fair representation in the development of legislation and regulations. Negotiated rulemaking has been successfully built into the development of rules for the "Indian Self-Determination Act" and the "Tribal Self-Governance Act". This excerpt from the "negotiated Rulemaking Sourcebook" by David M. Pritzker, Administrative Conference of the United States and Deborah S. Dalton, Environmental Protection Agency details the negotiated rulemaking process. This book may be ordered from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328; Document #: ISBN 0-16-048222-4.

ILWG Comments on Regulations This section contains ILWG comments on the following draft regulations: (1) 25 CFR, Part 116 - Trust Fund Accounting & Appeals; (2) 25 CFR, Part 15 - Probate/Life Estates; (3) 25 CFR, Fee For Service {NEW}; (4) 25 CFR, Part 151 - Land Acquisitions & Disposals; (5) 25 CFR, Part 15 - Probate/Life Estates (additional comments); (6) 25 CFR, Fee For Service {NEW}, (additional comments); (7) 25 CFR, Part 151 - Land Acquisitions & Disposals (additional comments); 25 CFR, Unclaimed Property {NEW}. These comments include areas whereby the Administration is trying to change law by regulation, which is illegal. A case in point related to Part 116 - Trust Fund Accounting and Appeals the ILG comments note, "The Secretary and the Special Trustee do not have the authority to change the law. The law allows IIM and Tribal account holders to file litigation against the DOI if there is a basis for litigation". The draft Part 116 regulations require that all claims be presented to the DOI before any claim may be  brought in litigation.

Probate/Life Estates (25 CFR 15, 25 CFR 179, 43 CFR 4 and 25 CFR 18)
Land Records and Title Documents (25 CFR 150)
Land Acquisitions and Disposals (25 CFR 151 and 25 CFR 152)
Leasing (25 CFR 162)
Grazing (25 CFR 166)
Administrative Accounting & Appeals Process (NEW)
Whereabouts Unknown (NEW)
Fee For Service (NEW)