II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4878 

To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to improve the Local Assistance 

and Tribal Consistency Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend title VI of the Social Security Act to improve 

the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure Rural and Trib5 al Lands Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOCAL ASSISTANCE AND TRIBAL CONSISTENCY 

7 FUND. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605 of the Social Security 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 805) is amended— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 4878 IS

1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘with amounts 

2 to be obligated’’ and all that follows through the pe3 riod and inserting ‘‘for making payments under this 

4 section to eligible revenue sharing recipients, eligible 

5 Tribal governments, and territories, with amounts to 

6 be allocated and paid in accordance with subsection 

7 (b) not later than December 31, 2022.’’; and 

8 (2) by striking subsections (b) through (f) and 

9 inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATIONS AND PAYMENTS TO ELIGI12 BLE REVENUE SHARING RECIPIENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) REVENUE SHARING COUNTIES.— 

14 ‘‘(i) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary 

15 shall reserve $1,485,000,000 of the total 

16 amount appropriated under subsection (a) 

17 to allocate to each revenue sharing county 

18 an amount determined by the Secretary, 

19 taking into account— 

20 ‘‘(I) the amount of entitlement 

21 land and Federal land in each revenue 

22 sharing county; and 

23 ‘‘(II) the economic conditions of 

24 each revenue sharing county, using 

25 such measurements of poverty, houseVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Sep 19, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4878.IS S4878

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 4878 IS

1 hold income, and unemployment over 

2 the most recent 20-year period as of 

3 September 30, 2021, to the extent 

4 data are available, as well as other 

5 economic indicators as the Secretary 

6 determines appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENTS.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B)(ii), the Secretary shall pay each 

9 revenue sharing county that is an eligible 

10 revenue sharing county the amount deter11 mined for the county under clause (i). 

12 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES.— 

13 ‘‘(i) REVENUE SHARING COUNTIES

14 WITH LIMITED GOVERNMENT FUNC15 TIONS.—In the case of an amount allo16 cated to a revenue sharing county under 

17 subparagraph (A) that is a county with 

18 limited government functions, the Sec19 retary shall, from such amount, allocate 

20 and pay to each eligible revenue sharing 

21 local government within such county an 

22 amount determined by the Secretary, tak23 ing into account the amount of entitlement 

24 land and Federal land in the eligible rev25 enue sharing local government and the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 4878 IS

1 population of the eligible revenue sharing 

2 local government relative to the total popu3 lation of such county with limited govern4 ment functions. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE REVENUE SHARING

6 COUNTY IN ALASKA.—In the case of the el7 igible revenue sharing county described in 

8 subsection (f)(3)(C), the Secretary shall 

9 pay the amount allocated to such eligible 

10 revenue sharing county under subpara11 graph (A) to the State of Alaska and the 

12 State of Alaska shall distribute from such 

13 payment, payments to home rule cities and 

14 general law cities (as such cities are de15 fined by the State) located within the 

16 boundaries of the eligible revenue sharing 

17 county described in subsection (f)(3)(C). 

18 ‘‘(C) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENT AUTHOR19 ITY.—The amounts otherwise determined for al20 location and payment under subparagraphs (A) 

21 and (B) may be adjusted by the Secretary on 

22 a pro rata basis to the extent necessary to en23 sure that all available funds are allocated and 

24 paid to eligible revenue sharing recipients in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Sep 19, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4878.IS S4878

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 4878 IS

1 cordance with the requirements specified in 

2 each such subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATIONS AND PAYMENTS TO ELIGI4 BLE TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

5 reserve $500,000,000 of the total amount appro6 priated under subsection (a) to allocate and pay to 

7 eligible Tribal governments amounts that are deter8 mined by the Secretary taking into account economic 

9 conditions of each eligible Tribe. 

10 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS AND PAYMENTS TO TERRI11 TORIES.—The Secretary shall reserve $15,000,000 

12 of the total amount appropriated under subsection 

13 (a) to allocate and pay to each territory an amount 

14 which bears the same proportion to the amount re15 served under this paragraph as the population of the 

16 territory bears to the total population of all the ter17 ritories. 

18 ‘‘(c) USE OF PAYMENTS.—An eligible revenue shar19 ing recipient, an eligible Tribal government, or a territory 

20 may use funds provided under a payment made under this 

21 section for any governmental purpose other than a lob22 bying activity. 

23 ‘‘(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Each eligible rev24 enue sharing recipient and each territory that receives a 

25 payment under this section shall submit to the Secretary 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 4878 IS

1 periodic reports providing a detailed accounting of the use 

2 of funds by the eligible revenue sharing recipient or terri3 tory, as applicable, and such other information as the Sec4 retary may require for the administration of this section. 

5 ‘‘(e) RECOUPMENT.—Any eligible revenue sharing re6 cipient or any territory that has failed to submit a report 

7 required under subsection (d) or failed to comply with sub8 section (c), shall be required to repay to the Secretary an 

9 amount equal to— 

10 ‘‘(1) in the case of a failure to comply with sub11 section (c), the amount of funds used in violation of 

12 such subsection; and 

13 ‘‘(2) in the case of a failure to submit a report 

14 required under subsection (d), such amount as the 

15 Secretary determines appropriate, but not to exceed 

16 5 percent of the amount paid to the eligible revenue 

17 sharing recipient or the territory under this section. 

18 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) COUNTY.—The term ‘county’ means a 

20 county, parish, borough, or other equivalent county 

21 division (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) in 

22 1 of the 50 States. 

23 ‘‘(2) COUNTY WITH LIMITED GOVERNMENT

24 FUNCTIONS.—The term ‘county with limited govern25 ment functions’ means a county in which entitlement 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 4878 IS

1 land or Federal land is located that is not an eligible 

2 revenue sharing county. 

3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE REVENUE SHARING COUNTY.— 

4 The term ‘eligible revenue sharing county’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a unit of general local government (as 

6 defined in section 6901(2) of title 31, United 

7 States Code) that is— 

8 ‘‘(i) a county in which entitlement 

9 land is located and which is eligible for a 

10 payment under section 6902(a) of title 31, 

11 United States Code; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a county that contains Federal 

13 land; 

14 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; and 

15 ‘‘(C) the combined area in Alaska that is 

16 within the boundaries of a census area used by 

17 the Secretary of Commerce in the decennial 

18 census, but that is not included within the 

19 boundary of a unit of general local government 

20 described in subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE REVENUE SHARING LOCAL GOV22 ERNMENT.—The term ‘eligible revenue sharing local 

23 government’ means a unit of general local govern24 ment (as defined in section 6901(2) of title 31, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•S 4878 IS

1 United States Code) that is not a county or territory 

2 and— 

3 ‘‘(A) in which entitlement land is located 

4 and which is eligible for a payment under sec5 tion 6902(a) of title 31, United States Code; or 

6 ‘‘(B) in which Federal land is located. 

7 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE REVENUE SHARING RECIPI8 ENTS.—The term ‘eligible revenue sharing recipi9 ents’ means, collectively, eligible revenue sharing 

10 counties and eligible revenue sharing local govern11 ments. 

12 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

13 term ‘eligible Tribal government’ means the recog14 nized governing body of an eligible Tribe. 

15 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBLE TRIBE.—The term ‘eligible 

16 Tribe’ means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, 

17 band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component 

18 band, or component reservation, individually identi19 fied (including parenthetically) in the list published 

20 on January 28, 2022, pursuant to section 104 of the 

21 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994. 

22 ‘‘(8) ENTITLEMENT LAND.—The term ‘entitle23 ment land’ has the meaning given such term in sec24 tion 6901(1) of title 31, United States Code. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•S 4878 IS

1 ‘‘(9) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘Federal land’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 3(7) of 

3 the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-De4 termination Act of 2000. 

5 ‘‘(10) REVENUE SHARING COUNTY.—The term 

6 ‘revenue sharing county’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) an eligible revenue sharing county; or 

8 ‘‘(B) a county with limited government 

9 functions. 

10 ‘‘(11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

11 means the Secretary of the Treasury. 

12 ‘‘(12) TERRITORY.—The term ‘territory’ 

13 means— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

15 ‘‘(B) the United States Virgin Islands; 

16 ‘‘(C) Guam; 

17 ‘‘(D) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

18 Mariana Islands; or 

19 ‘‘(E) American Samoa.’’. 

20 (b) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ADMINISTRA21 TIVE EXPENSES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of law, the unobligated balances from 

24 amounts made available to the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Sep 19, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4878.IS S4878

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•S 4878 IS

1 retary’’) for administrative expenses pursuant to the 

2 provisions specified in paragraph (2) shall be avail3 able to the Secretary (in addition to any other ap4 propriations provided for such purpose) for any ad5 ministrative expenses of the Department of the 

6 Treasury determined by the Secretary to be nec7 essary to respond to the coronavirus emergency, in8 cluding any expenses necessary to implement any 

9 provision of— 

10 (A) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Eco11 nomic Security Act (Public Law 116–136); 

12 (B) division N of the Consolidated Appro13 priations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260); 

14 (C) the American Rescue Plan Act (Public 

15 Law 117–2); or 

16 (D) title VI of the Social Security Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). 

18 (2) PROVISIONS SPECIFIED.—The provisions 

19 specified in this paragraph are the following: 

20 (A) Sections 4003(f) and 4112(b) of the 

21 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 

22 Act (Public Law 116–136). 

23 (B) Section 421(f)(2) of division N of the 

24 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public 

25 Law 116–260). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
11 

•S 4878 IS

1 (C) Sections 3201(a)(2)(B), 

2 3206(d)(1)(A), and 7301(b)(5) of the American 

3 Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2). 

4 (D) Section 602(a)(2) of the Social Secu5 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 802(a)(2)). 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB