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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MASHPEE WAMPANOAG TRIBE RESERVATION REAFFIRMATION ACT
______
speech of
HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA
of arizona
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following
Congressional Budget Office communication regarding H.R. 312.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, May 16, 2019.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 312, the Mashpee
Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Hadley,
(For Keith Hall, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 312, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act--May
15, 2019
[By fiscal year, millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019 2019-2024 2019-2029
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct Spending (Outlays).............. 0 0 0
Revenues............................... 0 0 0
Deficit Effect......................... 0 0 0
Spending Subject to Appropriation 0 * n.e.
(Outlays).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pay-as-you-go procedures apply? No
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2030? No
Mandate Effects
Contains intergovernmental mandate? Yes, Under Threshold
Contains private-sector mandate? Yes, Under Threshold
n.e. = not estimated; * = between zero and $500,000.
H.R. 312 would ratify and reaffirm the status of land taken
into trust in 2015 by the Department of the Interior (DOI)
for the benefit of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in
Massachusetts. The act also would prohibit any lawsuits,
including pending lawsuits, related to that land.
DOI is currently holding the land in trust pending ongoing
legal review of the acquisition. Using information from DOI,
CBO estimates that implementing the act would have no
significant effect on the costs of managing the land.
By prohibiting pending and future lawsuits, H.R. 312 would
end rights of action related to the land held in trust for
the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts that are
available to public and private entities under current law.
That prohibition imposes both an intergovernmental and
private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA). The cost of the mandates would be the
forgone value of compensation and settlements associated with
such legal actions if they would have been successful under
current law. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of
Taunton, and the Town of Mashpee have each entered into
agreements with the tribe related to the use of the land. In
light of those agreements as well as the land's reported
value, CBO expects that under current law it is unlikely that
any entity would bring an action resulting in compensation
that would exceed the annual thresholds established in UMRA.
In 2019 those thresholds totaled $82 million for
intergovernmental mandates and $164 million for private-
sector mandates, adjusted annually for inflation.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jon Sperl (for
federal costs) and Rachel Austin (for mandates). The estimate
was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
____________________