S. 550, a bill to provide for the equitable settlement of certain Indian land disputes regarding land in Illinois, and for other purposes

S. 550 would grant jurisdiction to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s land claim against the United States arising from the Treaty of Grouseland. The bill would require the court to render judgement without regard to the statute of limitations or any other delay-based defense. The bill also would extinguish all other claims, including any future claims, of the tribe to land in Illinois.

Groups that file civil suits in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims pay filing and administrative fees, which are recorded as revenues. Those fees can be spent without further appropriation to cover the administrative costs of the judiciary. On that basis, CBO estimates that enacting S. 550 would increase both revenues and direct spending by an insignificant amount over the 2025-2035 period.

S. 550 contains an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) because it would extinguish the tribe’s claims to land in Illinois. Eliminating an existing right of action is a mandate because the right to seek redress and recover damages beyond what is provided in the bill would be lost. CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would not exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA ($103 million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).

S. 550 contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Margot Berman (for federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.