II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 615

To encourage Indian economic development, to provide for a framework to

encourage and facilitate intergovernmental tax agreements, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 15, 1999

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

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To encourage Indian economic development, to provide for

a framework to encourage and facilitate intergovernmental tax agreements, 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 ‘‘Intergovernmental Tax

5 Agreement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) Indian tribal governments exercise govern2 mental authority and powers over persons and ac3 tivities that occur on Indian lands;

4 (2) a dual State-tribal tax burden on trans5 actions by Indian tribes and members of Indian

6 tribes with non-Indian persons and entities under7 mines the ability of Indian tribes to finance govern8 mental functions and programs of those Indian

9 tribes;

10 (3) the apportionment of taxes from commercial

11 activities occurring on Indian lands should take into

12 account the government services provided by the

13 State and the Indian tribe involved to members of

14 that Indian tribe and other individuals residing on

15 those lands;

16 (4) the governments of Indian tribes and States

17 have negotiated and entered into more than 200 tax

18 compacts, and those compacts cover a variety of

19 commodities and retail taxes;

20 (5) in cases in which a tax compact between an

21 Indian tribe and a State is not in effect, conflicts be22 tween the State and Indian tribe may require the ac23 tive involvement of the United States in the role of

24 the United States as a trustee for the Indian tribe;

25 (6) alternative dispute resolution—
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1 (A) has been used to resolve successfully

2 disputes in the public and private sectors;

3 (B) results in expedited decisionmaking;

4 and

5 (C) is less costly and less contentious than

6 litigation; and

7 (7) it is necessary to facilitate intergovern8 mental agreements between Indian tribes and States

9 and political subdivisions thereof.

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol11 lows:

12 (1) To strengthen the economies of Indian

13 tribes.

14 (2) To encourage and facilitate tax agreements

15 between the governments of Indian tribes and State

16 governments.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) COMPACT.—The term ‘‘compact’’ means a

20 written agreement between a State and an Indian

21 tribe concerning the collection and remittance of—

22 (A) applicable State taxes on retail com23 mercial transactions involving non-Indians on

24 Indian lands of that Indian tribe; or

25 (B) covered tribal equivalency taxes.
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1 (2) COVERED TRIBAL EQUIVALENCY TAX.—The

2 term ‘‘covered tribal equivalency tax’’ means a tribal

3 equivalency tax—

4 (A) with a rate that is equal to or greater

5 than the rate of an applicable State sales or ex6 cise tax for transactions for which the tax is

7 imposed; and

8 (B)(i) that is used to—

9 (I) fund tribal government operations

10 or programs;

11 (II) provide for the general welfare of

12 the Indian tribe and the members of that

13 Indian tribe;

14 (III) promote the economic develop15 ment of that Indian tribe; or

16 (IV) assist in funding operations of

17 local governmental agencies; or

18 (ii) that is a fuel or highway tax, with re19 spect to which the revenues derived from the

20 tax are used only for highway and transpor21 tation purposes.

22 (3) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’

23 means, with respect to an Indian tribe—

24 (A) lands within the reservation of that In25 dian tribe; and
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1 (B) other lands over which the Indian tribe

2 exercises governmental jurisdiction.

3 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

4 has the meaning given that term in section 4(e) of

5 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist6 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).

7 (5) NON-INDIAN.—The term ‘‘non-Indian’’

8 means a person who is not—

9 (A) an Indian tribe;

10 (B) comprised of members of an Indian

11 tribe; or

12 (C) a member of an Indian tribe.

13 (6) PANEL.—The term ‘‘Panel’’ means the

14 Intergovernmental Dispute Resolution Panel estab15 lished under section 5.

16 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

17 the Secretary of the Interior.

18 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

19 the 50 States.

20 (9) TRIBAL EQUIVALENCY TAX.—The term

21 ‘‘tribal equivalency tax’’ means a tax that—

22 (A) is imposed by the tribal government of

23 an Indian tribe on retail commercial trans24 actions that involve non-Indians on Indian
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1 lands within the jurisdiction of that Indian

2 tribe; and

3 (B) is in addition to any State tax that

4 may be imposed.

5 SEC. 4. INTERGOVERNMENTAL TAX AGREEMENTS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The consent of the United States

7 is granted to States and Indian tribes to enter into com8 pacts and agreements in accordance with this Act.

9 (b) COMPACT NEGOTIATIONS.—An Indian tribe may

10 request the Secretary to initiate negotiations on the part

11 of that Indian tribe with a State for the purpose of enter12 ing into a tax compact under this section. A State may

13 request the Secretary to initiate negotiations between an

14 Indian tribe and the State to enter into such a tax com15 pact.

16 (c) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify each

17 affected Indian tribe or State of any request made under

18 subsection (b).

19 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR REQUEST FOR INITIATION

20 OF NEGOTIATIONS.—

21 (1) WRITTEN REQUEST.—A request by an In22 dian tribe or State under subsection (a) shall be in

23 writing.

24 (2) RESPONSE.—Not later than 30 days after

25 receiving a request referred to in paragraph (1), the
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1 Secretary shall issue a written response to the In2 dian tribe or State that submitted the request.

3 (e) COMMENCEMENT OF NEGOTIATIONS; COMPLE4 TION OF NEGOTIATIONS.—

5 (1) COMMENCEMENT OF NEGOTIATIONS.—Not

6 later than 30 days after the date specified in sub7 section (d), the Secretary shall commence negotia8 tions with respect to the tax compact that is the

9 subject of the request submitted by the Indian tribe

10 or State.

11 (2) COMPLETION OF NEGOTIATIONS.—Not later

12 than 120 days after the commencement of the nego13 tiations under paragraph (1), the parties shall com14 plete the negotiations, unless the parties agree to an

15 extension of the period of time for completion of the

16 negotiations.

17 (f) MEDIATION.—The Secretary shall initiate a medi18 ation process, with the goal of achieving a tax compact,

19 if—

20 (1) by the date specified in subsection (e)(1),

21 the party that was requested to enter into negotia22 tions, failed to respond to that request; or

23 (2) upon the completion of an applicable period

24 for negotiations, as determined under subsection

25 (e)(2), the parties have failed to execute a compact.
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1 SEC. 5. INTERGOVERNMENTAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

2 PANEL.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

4 Intergovernmental Dispute Resolution Panel.

5 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF THE PANEL.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Panel shall consist of—

7 (A) 1 representative from the Department

8 of the Interior;

9 (B) 1 representative from the Department

10 of Justice;

11 (C) 1 representative from the Department

12 of the Treasury;

13 (D) 1 representative of State governments;

14 and

15 (E) 1 representative of tribal governments

16 of Indian tribes.

17 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Panel

18 shall select a Chairperson from among the members

19 of the Panel.

20 (c) DUTIES OF PANEL.—To the extent allowable by

21 law, the Panel may consider and render a decision on the

22 following:

23 (1) If negotiations and mediation conducted

24 under section 4 do not result in the execution of a

25 compact, a dispute between the State and Indian
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1 tribe that is referred to the Panel at the discretion

2 of the Secretary.

3 (2) Any claim involving the legitimacy of a

4 claim for the collection or payment of retail taxes

5 claimed by a State with respect to transactions con6 ducted on Indian lands (including counterclaims,

7 setoffs, or related claims submitted or filed by an In8 dian tribe in question regarding an original claim in9 volving that Indian tribe).

10 (d) FEDERAL MEDIATION CONCILIATION SERVICE.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In a manner consistent with

12 this Act, the Panel shall consult with the Federal

13 Mediation Conciliation Service (referred to in this

14 subsection as the ‘‘Service’’) established under sec15 tion 202 of the National Labor Relations Act (29

16 U.S.C. 172).

17 (2) DUTIES OF SERVICE.—The Service shall,

18 upon request of the Panel and in a manner con19 sistent with applicable law, provide services to the

20 Panel to aid in resolving disputes brought before the

21 Panel.

22 SEC. 6. JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections

24 (b) and (c), the district courts of the United States shall

25 have original jurisdiction with respect to—
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1 (1) the enforcement of any compact entered

2 into under this Act; and

3 (2) any civil action, claim, counterclaim, or

4 setoff, brought by any party with respect to a com5 pact entered into under this Act to secure equitable

6 relief, including injunctive and declaratory relief.

7 (b) DAMAGES.—No action to recover damages arising

8 out of or in connection with an agreement or compact en9 tered into under this Act may be brought, except as spe10 cifically provided for in that agreement or compact.

11 (c) CONSENT TO SUIT.—Each compact entered into

12 under this Act shall specify that each party to the

13 compact—

14 (1) consents to litigation to enforce the com15 pact; and

16 (2) to the extent necessary to enforce that com17 pact, waives any defense of sovereign immunity.

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