Two tribes get power to lease land for 99 years
H.R. 681 — To amend the Act of August 9, 1955 (commonly known as the “Long-Term Leasing Act”), to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation and land held in trust for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and for other purposes · Filed by William Keating (D-MA) · Introduced Jan 23, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill changes a 1955 law. It lets two tribes lease their reservation land for up to 99 years. Other federally recognized tribes already had this power. Now the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) have it too. The tribes can use long leases to build businesses and roads.
Who it affects
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) gain new power. Tribal governments can now make deals for 99 years without asking the federal government for permission.
One thing to notice
The bill gives these two tribes the same leasing power other tribes already had. This closes a gap that lasted about 70 years.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Jan 23, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 23, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Indian Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Sep 9, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Nov 20, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Nov 20, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent”
- Mar 3, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2358)”
- Mar 3, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federally recognized tribes — Native American tribes the U.S. government officially acknowledges and has a legal relationship with
- reservation — Land set aside by the federal government for a Native American tribe to live on
- lease — A deal to let someone use land for a set time in exchange for money
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (504 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-11-02.
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