Description:
S. 1579 would direct the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior and other federal agencies that administer programs related to recreation and tourism to update existing plans to promote tourism among Indian communities. The bill would require those Secretaries to report to the Congress on efforts to support Indian tribes’ tourism-related programs and clarify that tribal organizations are eligible to use certain federal grants for such purposes.
Based on information from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other affected agencies about the extent of existing efforts to promote tourism on tribal lands, CBO estimates that enacting S. 1579 would not significantly affect the federal budget. Because tourism-related plans and programs administered by most federal agencies already address such efforts, CBO expects that any costs incurred by agencies to modify those plans and programs to meet the specific requirements of S. 1579 would not exceed $500,000; any such increase in spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
In addition CBO expects that enacting S. 1579 could increase direct spending for other entities with mandatory funding authority, such as the Corporation for Travel Promotion. Because the bill could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply; however, CBO estimates that any such effects would be negligible. Enacting S. 1579 would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 1579 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the next four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
S. 1579 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On November 13, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 1579 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on October 7, 2015. The two versions of S. 1579 are similar and CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects are the same.
