As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on January 29, 2014
S. 1448 would provide compensation to the Spokane Tribe of Indians for tribal lands used in the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington. The bill would establish the Spokane Tribe of Indians Recovery Trust Fund and would require the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to make annual payments to the tribe from receipts generated from the sale of electricity. CBO estimates that enacting S. 1448 would increase net direct spending by $56 million over the 2015-2024 period. Because enacting S. 1448 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
S. 1448 contains an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) because it would extinguish the monetary claims of the Spokane Tribe of Indians against the United States for hydropower revenues and for past and continued use of the tribe’s land. CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would not exceed the annual threshold established in that act ($76 million in 2014, adjusted annually for inflation).
S. 1448 contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.