Track bills, resolutions, and amendments moving through Congress
Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act
The bill would make marine and fishing access data more standardized and widely available—greatly improving safety, planning, and interagency coordination—while raising costs, privacy/cultural-site risks, and some regulatory uncertainty for fishers and local communities unless safeguards and limits are carefully implemented.
Designating February 2025 as "Hawaiian Language Month" or "'Ōlelo Hawai'i Month".
The resolution symbolically affirms historic harms and supports Native Hawaiian language revitalization while linking to existing federal programs, but it does not create enforceable rights or funding—raising expectations that could lead to future fiscal or policy demands.
Recognizing National Native American Heritage Month and celebrating the heritages and cultures of Native Americans and the contributions of Native Americans to the United States.
The bill establishes a nationwide month to honor and raise awareness of Native American history and affirms congressional support for tribal self-determination, but it is symbolic and provides no new funding or legal changes, risking distraction from concrete remedies.
Designating the week beginning February 3, 2025, as "National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week".
The resolution raises the profile of Tribal Colleges and Universities and affirms their culturally grounded educational and workforce role, but it is symbolic and does not provide funding or legal changes, risking unmet expectations.
Expressing support for the designation of September 2025 as "Hawaiian History Month" to recognize the history, culture and contributions of Native Hawaiians and reaffirm the United States Federal trust responsibility to the Native Hawaiian Community to support their well-being.
The resolution formally recognizes Native Hawaiians and promotes education and acknowledgment of federal responsibilities—strengthening cultural recognition and program continuity—while potentially raising expectations and legal debates about land and funding without providing new resources.
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
The resolution affirms and highlights Tribal self-governance and demonstrated capacity to run programs, but it is only symbolic—providing recognition and encouraging interagency coordination without creating new legal authorities or funding, which could raise expectations without delivering resources.
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Modernization Act of 2026
The bill significantly expands tribal flexibility, tools, and targeted supports to accelerate housing production and increase homeownership on tribal and Native Hawaiian lands, but it does so by loosening federal oversight, environmental and civil‑rights safeguards, and creating budgetary and equity risks that could shift costs or reduce protections for some communities.
Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2026
The bill secures large federal funding and a ratified settlement that delivers legally protected water rights, infrastructure, and monitoring for the Yavapai‑Apache Nation—providing major benefits and certainty for tribal communities—while imposing substantial taxpayer costs, imposing waivers that limit future claims, creating implementation deadlines and administrative controls that reduce flexibility and public oversight, and redistributing water and tax implications that affect local non‑trib
Native Arts and Culture Promotion Act
The bill broadens nonprofit eligibility and maintains Native Hawaiian board rules to expand access and preserve governance continuity, but it reduces a specific Alaska Native representational requirement and heightens competition for limited grants, potentially disadvantaging small Native and community-based groups.
Reconciliation in Place Names Act
The bill advances inclusivity and tribal participation by systematically identifying and replacing offensive federal place names and creating a transparent, time‑bound process, but it raises taxpayer and local administrative costs, risks legal disputes and community pushback, and may cause transitional confusion and reduced local control.
Tribal Access to Clean Water Act of 2025
The bill directs substantial, targeted federal investments and clearer eligibility to close water and sanitation gaps on Tribal lands—improving health, infrastructure, and Tribal capacity—while creating significant new federal spending and risks of administrative complexity, uneven distribution, and uncertainty about long‑term funding and implementation.
Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act
The bill transfers Haskell and related tribal‑education functions into a federally chartered, tribal‑majority governed university with new, predictable federal funding and operational flexibility—strengthening tribal self‑determination and institutional resources while concentrating governance authority and imposing significant new costs, legal changes, and administrative transition risks for taxpayers, staff, and some community members.
Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act of 2025
The bill provides substantial new tax‑preferred financing, program clarifications, and tax exclusions to strengthen tribal self‑governance, infrastructure, and workforce recruitment — at the cost of reduced federal revenue, added administrative complexity, and potential jurisdictional and program‑integrity challenges.
Chugach Alaska Land Exchange Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2025
The bill clarifies and consolidates land titles—improving federal stewardship and reducing legal uncertainty while expanding certain tribal surface holdings—but does so by transferring large subsurface estates to the federal government, which limits tribal economic options and imposes costs and legal rigidity that may affect local priorities.
Remove the Stain Act
The bill formally acknowledges and rescinds honors tied to the Wounded Knee massacre—advancing recognition and accountability for Native communities and preserving veterans' benefits—while creating reputational, political, and administrative consequences for descendants, servicemembers, and federal systems.
College for All Act of 2025
The bill greatly expands federal support to make college more affordable and to strengthen institutions serving underrepresented students, at the cost of substantially increased and potentially open-ended federal spending, greater administrative complexity, and uneven implementation risks for some students and institutions.
Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve Establishment Act
The bill strengthens tribal sovereignty, protects cultural and natural resources, and can boost local economies through National Park designation, but it increases federal spending and administrative complexity while shifting local tax/regulatory authority and creating potential jurisdictional and land‑use conflicts.
Native American Education Opportunity Act
The bill directs new, flexible federal funding and administrative authority to Tribes to expand Tribal ESAs and tribally run schools—boosting local control and education options for Native students—while shifting federal dollars and regulatory authority in ways that could reduce resources for other programs, create equity and oversight concerns, and introduce short‑term uncertainty due to a sunset and administrative requirements.
Quindaro Townsite National Historic Landmark Act
The bill protects and promotes the Quindaro historic site—delivering preservation, education, and local economic benefits—while imposing modest public and local infrastructure costs and creating potential practical limits or pressures on nearby property owners.
Head Start for America’s Children Act
The bill makes a sweeping, well‑funded push to expand Head Start access, workforce pay/benefits, quality, mental‑health supports, and culturally responsive services—especially for Tribal and underserved communities—but does so at very large long‑term fiscal cost and with substantial new administrative, implementation, and equity risks that could strain providers and produce uneven results unless funding, guidance, and state/system alignment keep pace.
Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2026
The bill creates a funded, Congress‑established Commission and advisory structure to document boarding‑school harms, promote healing, repatriation, and agency accountability for Native survivors and tribes, while imposing federal costs, administrative burdens, possible privacy and oversight tradeoffs, and limits on private legal recourse.
Parity for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Students in Agriculture Act
The bill provides modest, targeted funding and predictable authorization to support Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, at the trade-off of lower annual funding after FY2026, shorter grant terms that increase administrative churn for small institutions, and a modest taxpayer cost.
Commonsense Legislating Act
The bill funds and coordinates targeted supports—preventing short-term service gaps and boosting public-safety, veteran, small-business, childcare, and tribal initiatives—while increasing federal spending, administrative burdens, and enforcement powers that raise fiscal, procedural, and civil‑liberties trade‑offs.
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Water Rights Settlement Act
The bill secures significant, long‑term water rights, land, and hundreds of millions in funding for the Agua Caliente Tribe and settles longstanding claims—providing legal and fiscal certainty for the Tribe—but does so by trading away many past and future claims, narrowing some environmental and planning reviews, creating substantial federal costs, and shifting fiscal and administrative impacts onto local governments, ratepayers, and private rights‑holders.
Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia Federal Recognition Act
The bill grants statutory federal recognition, land-into-trust status, and program access that strengthen tribal self-government and benefits for the named Tribe, while locking in membership/governance terms, restricting some tribal economic options (notably gaming), and creating potential jurisdictional, fiscal, and administrative trade-offs for tribes, local communities, and governments.
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia, Federal Recognition Act
The bill grants formal federal recognition and pathways to restore tribal lands and services—strengthening tribal sovereignty and access to programs—while creating trade-offs in lost gaming revenue, administrative and legal burdens, risks to individuals omitted from the submitted roll, and local fiscal/jurisdictional impacts.
Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act
The bill aims to create a tribally governed, federally chartered university with stable federal funding and stronger tribal self‑determination and oversight, but it concentrates governance power, shifts costs and legal risks toward taxpayers and the institution, reduces some federal employee protections, and creates administrative and eligibility trade‑offs that could leave some people excluded or exposed.
Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act
The bill centralizes and standardizes publicly accessible ocean and navigation geospatial data—improving safety, tribal participation, and data interoperability—while trading off higher implementation costs, potential privacy risks for commercial operators, some administrative complexity across jurisdictions, and exposure to agency discretion on fishing restrictions.
Reconciliation in Place Names Act
The bill speeds and standardizes removal of offensive geographic names and strengthens tribal participation and public transparency, but does so at measurable cost and political/administrative friction for local governments, federal agencies, and communities attached to existing names.
FLASH Act
The bill prioritizes expanded border security infrastructure, clearer federal operational authority, and targeted cleanup/wildfire programs while preserving tribal and private‑land exemptions—but does so at the cost of significant environmental impacts, increased enforcement and detention risks, higher federal and local costs, and potential tribal and local jurisdictional conflicts.
