Sponsors (2)
The bill grants a Virginia tribe federal recognition, land-into-trust status, and clearer governance — expanding access to federal benefits and jurisdictional authority — while imposing membership cutoffs, restricting gaming, and creating fiscal, jurisdictional, and implementation risks that may constrain tribal sovereignty and invite litigation.
Named tribal members gain federal recognition and become eligible for federal services, benefits, and programs (healthcare, education, housing), improving access to funding and supports.
Tribal lands get clarified trust/reservation status (with a predictable 3-year discretionary trust timeline) and the Act affirms existing resource rights, expanding the Tribe's land base and legal authority to exercise jurisdiction on those lands.
The bill establishes and locks in an administratively recognized tribal membership roll and governing documents and recognizes tribal leadership succession, reducing internal membership/governance disputes and providing legal certainty about who can act for the Tribe.
Individuals added to the Tribe after the statutory cutoff — and the Tribe's future ability to alter membership rolls — may be excluded from recognition and federal benefits, and the Act creates a federal role in membership determinations that can constrain tribal sovereignty.
Federal recognition and new federal obligations for the Tribe and service area could increase costs for federal, state, and local governments and taxpayers (benefit delivery, potential compensation or claims stemming from findings).
Historical findings and land-trust conversions may trigger legal disputes over land titles, jurisdiction, and regulatory authority, potentially affecting current landowners and provoking litigation between tribal, state, and local parties.
Based on analysis of 18 sections of legislative text.
Recognizes the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia federally, sets membership/governance rules, enables certain land-into-trust actions, designates a service area, and bars tribal gaming.
Official title: To extend Federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 11, 2025 by Jennifer McClellan · Last progress September 11, 2025
Grants federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, makes the Tribe and its members eligible for federal services available to recognized tribes, and establishes the Tribe’s official membership roll and governing documents. The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to take certain tribe-owned fee lands into trust (upon request), designates a multi-county service area for federal program delivery, preserves existing Indian Child Welfare Act agreement authority, prohibits the Tribe from conducting any gaming under federal law, and preserves existing hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.