[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1850 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1850

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the treatment 
   of Indian tribal governments as State governments for purposes of 
     issuing tax-exempt governmental bonds, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2007

 Mr. Smith (for himself and Mr. Baucus) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the treatment 
   of Indian tribal governments as State governments for purposes of 
     issuing tax-exempt governmental bonds, 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 
Parity Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS OF AUTHORITY OF INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS TO 
              ISSUE TAX-EXEMPT BONDS.

    (a) In General.--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--
                    ``(A) such obligation is part of an issue 95 
                percent or more of the net proceeds of which are to be 
                used to finance any facility located on the Indian 
                reservation of such Indian tribal government, or
                    ``(B) such obligation is part of an issue 
                substantially all of the proceeds of which are to be 
                used in the exercise of any essential governmental 
                function.
            ``(2) Exclusion of gaming.--An obligation described in 
        subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) may not be used to 
        finance any portion of a building in which class II or III 
        gaming (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
        Act (25 U.S.C. 2702)) is conducted or housed or any other 
        property actually used in the conduct of such gaming.
            ``(3) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection--
                    ``(A) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means 
                any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized 
                group or community 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 section 
                4(10) of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 
                U.S.C. 1903(10)).''.

SEC. 3. ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION.

    Subsection (e) of section 7871 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(defining essential governmental function) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(e) Essential Governmental Function.--The term `essential 
governmental function' includes any function which is performed by a 
State or local government with general taxing powers.''.

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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