[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1946 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1946

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the issuance 
    of tax-exempt bonds by Indian tribal governments, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 1999

 Mr. Shadegg introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the issuance 
    of tax-exempt bonds by Indian tribal governments, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Government Tax-Exempt Bond 
Authority Amendments Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    The Constitutional authority upon which this Act rests is the power 
of Congress to lay and collect taxes and to regulate commerce with 
foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian 
tribes, as set forth in section 8 of Article I of the United States 
Constitution.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS OF AUTHORITY OF INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS TO 
              ISSUE TAX-EXEMPT BONDS.

    (a) General Provision.--Subsection (c) of section 7871 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to Indian tribal governments 
treated as States for certain purposes) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Additional Requirements for Tax-Exempt Bonds.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 103 shall 
        apply to any obligation issued by an Indian tribal government 
        (or subdivision thereof) only if such obligation is part of an 
        issue 95 percent or more of the net proceeds of which are to be 
        used to finance facilities located on land within or in close 
        proximity to the exterior boundaries of an Indian reservation.
            ``(2) Private activity bonds.--Any private activity bond 
        (as defined in section 141(a)) issued by an Indian tribal 
        government (or subdivision thereof) shall be treated as a 
        qualified bond for purposes of section 103(b)(1) to which 
        section 146 does not apply if--
                    ``(A) General restrictions.--The requirements of 
                section 144(a)(8)(B) and section 147 are met with 
                respect to the issue.
                    ``(B) Specific restrictions.--
                            ``(i) Ownership.--In the case of an issue 
                        the net proceeds of which exceed $500,000, 50 
                        percent or more of the profits or capital 
                        interests in the facilities to be financed 
                        thereby (or in the entity owning the 
                        facilities) are owned either by an Indian 
                        tribe, a subdivision thereof, a corporation 
                        chartered under section 17 of the Indian 
                        Reorganization Act of 1934 (25 U.S.C. 477) or 
                        section 3 of the Oklahoma Welfare Act (25 
                        U.S.C. 503), individual enrolled members of an 
                        Indian Tribe, an entity wholly-owned by any of 
                        the foregoing, or any combination thereof.
                            ``(ii) Employment test.--It is reasonably 
                        expected (at the time of issuance of the 
                        obligations) that for each $100,000 of net 
                        proceeds of the issue at least 1 employee 
                        rendering services at the financed facilities 
                        is an enrolled member of an Indian tribe or the 
                        spouse of an enrolled member of an Indian 
                        tribe.
                            ``(iii) Gaming.--No part of the issue of 
                        which such bond is a part is used for property 
                        (or any portion thereof) placed in service for 
                        purposes of conducting or housing class I, II, 
                        or III gaming (as defined in section 4 of the 
                        Indian Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703)).
            ``(3) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection--
                    ``(A) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means 
                any Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other 
                organized group or community, including any Alaska 
                Native village, or regional or village corporation, as 
                defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska 
                Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 
                which is recognized as eligible for the special 
                programs and services provided by the United States to 
                Indians because of their status as Indians.
                    ``(B) Indian reservation.--The term `Indian 
                reservation' means a reservation, as defined in--
                            ``(i) section 3(d) of the Indian Financing 
                        Act of 1974 (25 U.S.C. 1452(d)); or
                            ``(ii) section 4(10) of the Indian Child 
                        Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1903(10)).
                    ``(C) In close proximity to.--The term `in close 
                proximity to' means--
                            ``(i) in the case of an Indian reservation, 
                        or portion thereof, located within a 
                        metropolitan statistical area (within the 
                        meaning of section 143(k)(2)(B)), within 1 mile 
                        of the boundaries of such reservation, or 
                        portion thereof; and
                            ``(ii) in the case of an Indian 
                        reservation, or portion thereof, located within 
                        a nonmetropolitan area (as defined in section 
                        42(d)(5)(C)(iv)(IV)), within 15 miles of the 
                        boundaries of such reservation, or portion 
                        thereof.
                    ``(D) Net proceeds.--The term `net proceeds' has 
                the meaning given such term by section 150(a)(3).''
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Paragraph (3) of section 149(b) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to federally guaranteed bond is 
not exempt) is amended by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
subparagraph (E) and by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following 
new subparagraph:
                    ``(D) Exception for bonds issued by indian tribal 
                governments.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any bond 
                issued by an Indian tribal government (or subdivision 
                thereof) unless such bond is federally guaranteed 
                within the meaning of paragraph (2)(B)(ii).''

SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.

    The first sentence of section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 
(15 U.S.C. 77c(a)(2)) is amended by inserting ``or by any Indian tribal 
government or subdivision thereof (within the meaning of section 7871 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986),'' after ``or Territories,''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to obligations issued 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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