Congress looks at management of Navajo Trust Fund

WASHINGTON — As the federal court tries to sort out the alleged mismanagement of the Utah Navajo Trust Fund, Congress starting hearing options Thursday on how it should handle reassigning responsibility for the fund now that the state no longer wants to manage it.

The Interior Department says it cannot take over the fund and there are different opinions among Navajo nation members as to who should take over, based on witness testimony at a House Resources Committee hearing Thursday.

On top of the differing opinions, this is something Congress has never had to deal with before, said Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

Matheson does not sit on the committee, although Reps. Rob Bishop, R-Utah and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, are members. Matheson asked Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., for the hearing, which falls under the committee's jurisdiction, because the Navajos are in his district and "there are legal liabilities that need to be sorted out," including whether the state can just opt out of a federal responsibility.

"I am not aware of another instance in which the federal government has directed a state to receive and expend money for the benefit of individual Indians," Rahall said.

Congress created the oil trust in 1933, mandating that 37.5 percent of royalties from gas and oil exploration on Navajo land be placed in a trust and administered by the state of Utah through the federal government. The state will no longer manage the fund so it will be up to Congress to figure out what to do next.

"It kind of fell into Congress's lap," Matheson said.

Tani Pack Downing, deputy chief of staff and general counsel for Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. said the state will wind down active management of the find and "simply protect the fund and other assets until a successor is determined."

"The state has no preference for a successor management entity other than a desire to see that the royalties continue to flow to the benefit of the Navajo residents of San Juan County," Downing said, adding that Congress can only determine the successor.

Matheson also said he has no preference what entity takes over the fund, but his main concern is that the 37.5 percent of royalties now allocated to Utah remain in Utah. He said the challenge is not just the money but the real estate or other assets the trust has. Matheson will also have to figure out the specific language legislation determining the future of the trust would need to include and Congress will have to pass a law.