H.R. 317 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 in Santa Barbara County, California. Under the act, DOI would hold the title to that land for the benefit of that tribe. The act would prohibit certain types of gaming on those lands and would end any administrative appeals of DOI’s decision about the property. CBO estimates that implementing the act would have no significant budgetary effects.
H.R. 317 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by prohibiting state and local governments from taxing land taken into trust for the Chumash Tribe. Information from Santa Barbara County about taxes and other receipts associated with the land indicates that those forgone revenues would total less than $500,000 annually, below the annual public-sector threshold established in UMRA ($82 million in 2019, adjusted annually for inflation).
