§80q–3 Board of Trustees of National Museum of the American Indian

Summary

Creates a Board of Trustees to run and care for the National Museum. The Board must propose the yearly operating budget to the Board of Regents, advise the Regents about running, preserving, and maintaining the museum, write its own bylaws, pick a chair and other officers from among its members, and give an annual report about acquiring, removing, and showing Native American objects. Under the Regents’ general policies, the Board alone can lend, trade, sell, or otherwise dispose of collection items (and use the money to add to the collections or the museum’s endowment), buy or accept items for the collection, set rules for using the collections for research, education, display, and evaluation, restore and preserve items, raise funds and decide how to use them, and approve spending from the endowment. At first the Board has 25 members: the Secretary of the Smithsonian, one Assistant Secretary chosen by the Regents, 8 people the Regents appoint, and 15 people the Regents appoint from nominees sent by the Heye Museum board. Of those 23 appointed people, at least 7 must be Indians. The Assistant Secretary serves until the Regents replace them. The appointed trustees serve 3-year terms starting when the Heye Foundation assets transfer. Vacancies are filled only for the rest of the term. After those first terms end, the Board will still have 25 members: the Smithsonian Secretary, a senior Smithsonian official chosen by the Regents, and 23 people the Regents appoint from nominees the Board of Trustees recommends, with at least 12 of those 23 being Indians. Appointed members normally serve 3 years, but at the start 7 members (4 Indians) serve 1 year and 8 members (4 Indians) serve 2 years so terms are staggered. A majority of current members makes a quorum. Board members may receive per diem and travel and transportation expenses for each day (including travel time) they do Board work.