Title
A COMPREHENSIVE CHEROKEE NATION EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP ACT OF 2024, 2026 AMENDMENTS
Body
BE IT ENACTED BY THE CHEROKEE NATION:
Section 1. Title and Codification
This Legislative Act shall be titled as the "The Comprehensive Cherokee Nation Education Act of 2024, as amended" or alternatively "The Comprehensive Cherokee Nation Act of 2024, 2026 amendments" and codified under Title Section of the Cherokee Nation Code Annotated ("CNCA").
Section 2. Findings and Purpose
The Council of the Cherokee Nation finds that consolidating and updating existing statutes relating to the higher education scholarship programs is warranted. The purpose of this act is to repeal existing higher education scholarship statutes and replace those statutes with a comprehensive approach to scholarship administration in the Cherokee Nation, align the fiscal years 2023 and 2024 increases in the college scholarship legislated by appropriation with updated statutory language, create a Cherokee Nation Leadership Scholarship Fund through the Cherokee Nation Foundation, formalize an at-large scholarship fund through the Cherokee Nation Foundation, provide for an annual report on scholarship programs and other related purposes.
The Council further finds that funds available under the Public Health and Wellness Fund Act, as amended (PHWA) are available to increase resources for Cherokee Nation citizens to explore pursue college degrees to meet the "workforce training and development" aims of the PHWFA. The purpose of the 2026 amendments to this Act are to dedicate a minimum level of PHWFA funding on an annual basis for relevant merit-based health related scholarships and health related youth career development programs, to impose a requirement on the Principal Chief of a Three-Year plan for programs under this Act, to strengthen annual reporting requirements and to authorize the Principal Chief flexibility in offering concurrent scholarships to earlier grade levels.
Section 3. Legisla...
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