Research and article annotations by Lauren Criss-Carboy and Laura Supple

Summaries, organization and editing by Stacey Fritz and Lisa McNair

Summary 

This literature review provides detailed information on COVID-19 pandemic relief funding in Alaska (primarily the March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security or CARES Act and the March 2021 American Rescue Plan). The literature is organized around 3 key topics:

§ 3.1 Funding Eligibility of Alaska Native Corporations and Tribes

§ 3.2 Pandemic Impacts on Housing Security and Uses of Pandemic Funding

§ 3.3 Barriers to Accessing and Using CARE Act Funds

On top of the economic instability the pandemic brought, many communities faced significant challenges in housing their residents. In many cases, pre-existing housing shortages were exacerbated by the prohibition on travel to villages, meaning that the already insufficient construction workforce was not able to build new homes. Soaring lumber prices accompanied the supply chain delays caused by the pandemic. Chronic overcrowding and “hidden homelessness” in many communities became even greater problems with a lack of emergency/crisis shelters or surplus housing for quarantining. The pandemic also highlighted the widespread poor quality of housing, indoor air quality issues, and a lack of functioning water and sanitation infrastructure.

In March 2020, $8 billion in CARES Act funds were allocated for federally recognized “Indian Tribes” and “Tribal Governments,” and the Treasury Department earmarked approximately $500 million of those funds for Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs).^[1] ANCs were created in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 as for-profit, shareholder corporations owned by Alaska Natives, which departed from the lower-48 reservation system. The 13 ANCs are part of a complex system that also includes tribes, village corporations, and other entities. The allocation to ANCs quickly became the impetus for a lawsuit.^[2] Three tribes from the lower 48, later joined by others and Alaskan tribes, sued on the basis that Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) are not federally recognized tribal governments and should not be eligible for CARES funds. The lawsuit delayed disbursement of those funds, and coverage of it dominated much of the reporting on the CARES Act in Alaska for several months. The Supreme Court ruled in June 2021 that ANCs qualify as tribes^[3] and thus were eligible to receive the set-aside funds. Because of that lawsuit and its resolution, a portion of this review focuses on differences between Alaska Native Corporations and tribal governments and other tribal entities with respect to funding allocations, payments, and reported spending.

This review was undertaken in summer-fall 2021, when communities were still spending their funds, so it is not a rigorous evaluation of the ultimate impacts of the CARES Act on community programs, housing projects, and housing security during the pandemic. Reporting by tribal governments and municipalities was scarce, and local news and blog articles were the primary information sources for this review.

The first section describes eligibility criteria for the funds and allocation, including coverage of the Alaska Native Corporations applying for relief funds and the ensuing lawsuit that delayed disbursement of those funds. A subsection covers the U.S. Department of Treasury’s evolving guidance on allocation of the $8 million to tribes and ANCs that tracks various disputes and resolutions, and a second subsection tracks how one ANC in particular, Calista Corporation, responded to the dispute and facilitated the distribution of funds.

The second section illustrates broad patterns in impacts of the pandemic on housing security across Alaska and in uses of the CARES Act funds for housing as well as numerous specific examples of how different Alaska communities used the funds.

The third section covers barriers that Alaskan communities experienced in applying for and using the CARES Act funds for housing.