Trump signs into law bills long sought by Alaska congressional delegation to benefit Alaska Natives

Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska on Jul 16, 2025

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President Donald Trump has signed into law two measures long sought by Alaska's congressional delegation to benefit Alaska Native people.

The provisions, called the Alaska Native Settlement Trust Eligibility Act and the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act, had been repeatedly introduced by members of the Alaska congressional delegation since 2019, only to stall in Congress.

But a Republican trifecta this year in the House, Senate and White House smoothed the way to final passage of the two measures, which had been supported by Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation.

One of the new laws eliminates the requirement that Alaska Native village corporations hold some land in federal trust, unused, in case a new village corporation is created. This hasn't happened in more than three decades.

The other law allows Alaska Natives who are "aged, blind or disabled" to exclude certain incomes when calculating their eligibility for federal benefits.

The bills were reintroduced by U.S. Rep. Nick Begich earlier this year. They had previously been introduced by U.S. Reps. Don Young, also a Republican, and Mary Peltola, a Democrat, in the House, and by U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan in the Senate.

"Now, Alaska Natives and vulnerable Alaskans can receive support without fear of losing essential benefits, and over 80 villages can finally move forward with building homes, improving infrastructure, and growing their economies," Begich said in a statement.

The passage of the bills was celebrated by Ben Mallott, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, who said in a statement that the laws remove "a barrier to community development and self-determination."

"The teamwork of our Alaska Congressional delegation reflects a shared commitment to advancing priorities important to Alaska Native people," Mallott said.

The bills passed the Senate in 2023 after they were introduced jointly by Murkowski and Sullivan, only to stall in the Republican-controlled House after Peltola — a Democrat — introduced them.

This year's versions of the bills were introduced in January by Begich and passed the House in February without notable opposition, becoming Begich's first legislative accomplishments after winning Alaska's lone U.S. House seat in 2024. The Senate then passed the measures in June.

Murkowski said that the measures are "long overdue."

"This has been a years-long effort to get these measures to the President's desk. And I am proud to have led that effort and to see it through," she said in a June statement.

Begich has also introduced in the House two other bills related to the rights of Alaska Native people that are still working their way through the legislative process. One would provide federal land to Southeast Alaska Native village corporations that have no land base. The other would extend the time that Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans have to select land parcels from the federal government.

The latter passed the House on Monday, sending it next to the Senate for consideration. Without action from Congress, the time frame for Vietnam War veterans to apply for land allotments is set to conclude at the end of this year.

The program offering the veterans more opportunity to apply for land allotments was another long-fought victory for Alaska's congressional delegation.

With support from Murkowski and Sullivan, the allotment program was signed into law by Trump in 2019, with a five-year window to apply. But in the ensuing years, the number of allotments approved fell far short of the number of potential eligible recipients.

The Bureau of Land Management has reported that it has received 500 applications for allotments and granted 44 of them. BLM reported it has not been able to contact 150 eligible veterans.

"With roughly 150 veterans remaining to be notified, and the pace of allotment certifications slower than we hoped it would be, an extension has become necessary — especially as we push to open additional lands closer to where many of these veterans and their families actually live," Murkowski said in a statement earlier this year.

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