Navajo Nation Council Approves $6 Million Emergency Aid for 110 Chapters

Council Delegate George H. Tolth's legislation cleared the 25th Navajo Nation Council on March 19 in Window Rock, Ariz., sending $6 million in emergency assistance to all 110 Navajo Nation chapters for Fiscal Year 2026. The funds come from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance and will be distributed under an established allocation formula that the Council described as designed to ensure equitable support across the Nation.

Legislation No. 0029-26, sponsored by Delegate George H. Tolth, appropriated money from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance for all 110 chapters. Tolth said the funding is intended to address gaps in emergency assistance provided at the chapter level, particularly during extreme weather events. The Naabik'íyáti' Committee advanced the legislation on March 12 before the full Council acted a week later following extensive discussion and amendments.

Chief Legislative Counsel Michelle Espino said that because the controller classified the appropriation as nonrecurring, budget waivers in the original bill were unnecessary, which lowered the threshold for passage from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority.

Once distributed, funds may be used for public assistance, community response efforts, and preparedness activities identified by each chapter. The legislation's most significant amendment reshaped how chapters can access the money. Delegate Vince James proposed an amendment allowing chapters to use the money not only for declared emergencies but also for emergency preparedness. Each of the Navajo Nation's 110 chapters maintains a designated emergency account known as Fund 17 under the Budget Instruction Manual. Under the original language, chapters could draw on those accounts only after a formal emergency declaration by the president or the Commission on Emergency Management.

Delegate Shawna Ann Claw backed that shift, arguing the funding should allow chapters to provide general assistance beyond strictly disaster-related events. She cited a case in which a family sought help from a chapter to bring a deceased relative home from another state as an example of the kind of community need the funding should be able to cover. "This legislation ensures that our chapters are not only responding to emergencies but are also able to prepare ahead of time," Claw said. "By clarifying the use of these funds and aligning them with non-recurring expenditures, we are strengthening local capacity and ensuring our communities are better equipped to protect our people."

Not all concerns were resolved without debate. Delegate Carl R. Slater pushed back on reversion language in the bill, the provision that would return unused funds to the Navajo Nation's General Fund. Slater argued that emergencies do not follow a calendar and are not limited to natural disasters. "I don't think expiration dates are necessary, and we should consider waiving that language," he said. The Council's adopted amendments clarified permissible uses of the funds, though the final status of any reversion or expiration language in the enacted legislation was not specified in official Council materials released after the vote.

Supporting documentation from the Office of the Controller verified that the $6 million request is non-recurring and appropriate for UUFB use. Required budget forms, Controller review, and Office of Management and Budget memorandums were submitted and attached to the legislation, consistent with requirements under Title 12 of the Navajo Nation Code.

The action marks the second time in roughly two years that Tolth has led a major emergency appropriation for Navajo chapters. In January 2024, the Council voted 16-0 to approve Legislation No. 0018-24, which would have appropriated nearly $6 million from the same UUFB, splitting $3.85 million among the 110 chapters at $35,000 each and directing approximately $2.1 million to the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management. The Council's 2026 materials describe the distribution for the current measure only as following "an established allocation formula," and provide no equivalent per-chapter dollar figure.

The Council spent six hours on March 19 passing emergency legislation, overhauling its procurement code and correcting a redistricting error that threatened voters' rights, while also confronting the fallout from President Buu Nygren's line-item vetoes of the Legislative Branch's fiscal 2026 budget. The emergency chapter funding was among the session's less contested items, clearing the chamber after the amendment debate resolved the question of whether preparedness spending could proceed without a formal disaster declaration. For the 110 chapters that span McKinley County and the broader Navajo Nation, the answer is now yes.