Almost One Year

In May 2008 it will be one year since HR 1294 passed the House and has seen no action since. The bill was voted on in the Senate. It now lies in the Senate for Indians Affairs Committee. The ball is in its court.

Briefly, H.R. 1294 would provide federal recognition to six Indian tribes in the state ofVirginia—the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, the Eastern Division of the ChickahominyIndian Tribe, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the MonacanIndian Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe. CBO estimates that implementingH.R. 1294 would cost $40 million over the 2008-2012 period, assuming the appropriationof the necessary funds. Enacting H.R. 1294 would have no effect on direct spending orrevenues. H.R. 1294 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in theUnfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no direct costs on state,local, or tribal governments.