As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on September 13, 2012
S. 1345 would provide compensation to the Spokane Tribe of Indians for tribal lands used to generate hydroelectric power by the Grand Coulee Dam. The bill would require the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to make annual payments to the tribe from receipts generated from the sale of electricity. While CBO expects that BPA would eventually raise electricity rates to cover the cost of those payments, we estimate that enacting S. 1345 would increase net direct spending by $2 million over the 2013-2022 period. Because enacting S. 1345 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
The legislation would have additional budget impacts after 2022. The bill would establish the Spokane Tribe of Indians Recovery Trust Fund in fiscal year 2025 to pay additional compensation to the tribe for land taken to build the Grand Coulee Dam. CBO estimates that enacting this provision would increase direct spending by around $300 million in fiscal year 2025. In addition, starting in 2023, S. 1345 would reduce certain payments that BPA is required to make to the Treasury by $2.7 million per year. Because those payments offset direct spending, such reductions would have the effect of increasing direct spending by $2.7 million a year indefinitely, starting in 2023.
S. 1345 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
