H.R. 1491 would affirm the decision made by the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take into trust approximately 1,400 acres of land owned by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians (Chumash Tribe) in Santa Barbara County, California. Under the act, DOI would hold the title to that land for the benefit of the tribe. The act would prohibit certain types of gaming on those lands and end any administrative appeals of DOI’s decision about this property. CBO estimates that implementing the act would have no significant budgetary effects related to holding the land in trust.
Enacting H.R. 1491 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1491 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 1491 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the cost of the mandates would fall below the annual thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($80 million and $160 million in 2018, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).
The bill would impose an intergovernmental mandate by preempting the authority of state and local governments to tax land taken into trust for the Chumash Tribe. Information from Santa Barbara County about taxes and other receipts associated with the land indicates that such revenues total less than $500,000 annually.
