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H.R. 812, Indian Trust Asset Reform Act 1 (February 12, 2016)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2783 and id is 1 raw text is: 




                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                             COST ESTIMATE

                                                                 February 12, 2016


                                   H.R. 812
                       Indian Trust Asset Reform Act

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on February 3, 2016


Under current law, the Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for managing
financial assets held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of Indian tribes.
H.R. 812 would amend current law to give tribes more authority to manage their own
assets. The bill also would expand tribes' authority to enter into leases for certain services
and activities on tribal land-particularly related to management of tribally owned natural
resources-without DOI's approval.

CBO does not expect that implementing H.R. 812 would affect the federal government's
overall costs to provide services and other assistance to tribes. Under current law, some of
those costs are incurred directly by DOI; in other cases, the department provides financial
support for tribes to perform such work. In the latter case, DOI typically retains a role in
approving and overseeing contracts and other agreements entered into by the tribe for such
activities.

Under the bill, to the extent that tribes shift toward hiring nonfederal contractors to manage
financial assets, DOI might face increased costs to review and approve such contracts. At
the same time, CBO expects that expanding tribes' authority to use certain leases to
procure services related to natural resources owned by the tribe would reduce the
department's administrative workload. Taken as a whole, CBO estimates that any net
change in federal costs-which would be subject to appropriation-would be insignificant
in any given year.

Because enacting H.R. 812 would not affect direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go
procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 812 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods
beginning in 2027.

H.R. 812 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Any costs incurred by tribes as a result of using
additional authority granted by the bill would be incurred voluntarily.

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