Sponsors
The bill secures federal recognition, resources, land-into-trust status, and protections that strengthen tribal sovereignty and access to services, but does so at added fiscal cost, with new administrative requirements and potential impacts on local land access, tax revenues, and governance/privacy for tribal members.
Tribal members (including those off-reservation) gain access to federal services and benefits — healthcare, education, housing, and other programs — improving health, education, and basic needs access.
The Tribe can access federal funding streams and technical assistance for economic development and infrastructure projects on tribal lands, supporting jobs and local investment.
Federal recognition and clarified trust-eligibility strengthen tribal sovereignty and legal status, improving government-to-government relations and reducing uncertainty in future land transactions.
Expanding eligibility and services to the newly recognized Tribe will increase federal costs and could strain program capacity, potentially requiring additional appropriations paid by taxpayers.
Transferring BLM lands into trust and expanding tribal hunting/fishing rights may limit non-tribal access to recreation, grazing, or other uses on those lands, affecting local residents and businesses.
Conditioning recognition or benefits on submitting an official membership roll and meeting federal timelines may impose administrative costs on the Tribe, pressure internal governance, and raise privacy concerns for members.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Grants federal recognition to the named tribe, makes members eligible for federal Indian services, requires a membership roll, and allows BLM land to be taken into trust for tribal use.
Introduced October 24, 2025 by Kevin Kiley · Last progress October 24, 2025
Grants federal recognition to the Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe and makes the Tribe and its enrolled members eligible for the range of federal services and benefits available to federally recognized Indian tribes and their members. It requires the Tribe to provide a membership roll within 18 months, preserves the Tribe’s existing legal claims and rights, affirms hunting and fishing rights on Federal lands within the Tribe’s aboriginal area, and directs the Secretary of the Interior to identify BLM land in the Tribe’s ancestral homeland for possible acquisition into trust for tribal government, services, economic development, and housing.