Federal grants for Native American and Hawaiian tourism programs
S. 612 — A bill to amend the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act to authorize grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations, and for other purposes. · Filed by Brian Schatz (D-HI) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 18, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill lets six federal groups give money to Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian groups. The money helps them start or grow tourism programs. The bill sets aside 35 million dollars to spend from 2025 to 2029. Federal groups can also sign deals with tribes and Native Hawaiian groups on tourism.
Who it affects
Indian tribes, tribal groups, and Native Hawaiian groups can apply for grants. These groups can use the money for tourism work that creates jobs and brings money to their areas.
One thing to notice
The bill gives federal groups the power to give grants. It does not require them to.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Feb 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 18, 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 16, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8752; text: CR S8752)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Indian tribes — Groups of Native American people with their own governments and lands.
- tribal groups — Groups set up by tribes to help their members or run programs.
- Native Hawaiian groups — Groups that represent or help Native Hawaiian people.
- grants — Money the government gives to groups for a specific purpose. Groups do not have to pay it back.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,323 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,358 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 2026-09-19.
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