Federal government corrects $5M interest underpayment to tribal water settlement
S. 546 — Technical Correction to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025 · Filed by Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 12, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill authorizes a one-time payment of $5,124,902.12 to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation to correct an interest calculation error in their 2009 water rights settlement. The money goes into a Development Fund established under the original settlement agreement to support tribal water infrastructure and economic development.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a narrow technical amendment correcting an interest calculation in an existing tribal water rights settlement. It is a remedial payment to fulfill a prior federal obligation, not a new policy initiative.
What the text implies
- The $5.1M payment may unlock additional tribal investment in water infrastructure, irrigation, or economic development projects in the Duck Valley region, with spillover benefits to local economies.
- Correcting the settlement may establish precedent for auditing other tribal settlements for similar calculation errors, potentially triggering additional federal payments.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill fulfills a federal obligation to a federally recognized tribe by correcting a settlement calculation error. Ordinary citizens benefit indirectly through honoring treaty/settlement commitments and supporting tribal self-determination and infrastructure; the direct beneficiary is the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, a sovereign government entity.
Who stands to gain
- Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation
Named in the bill
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Public Law 111–11, Development Fund, Secretary (of Interior)
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Feb 12, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 12, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Indian Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs”
- Mar 5, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
- Dec 11, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8691; text: CR S8691)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $50,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 1 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Catherine Cortez Masto, the sponsor, reported $298,634 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation — $50,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (662 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 16, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal government corrects $5M interest underpayment to tribal water settlement” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s546 Report an error
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