HB 1366: Reservation Reinvestment Act of 2019 (Passed)

[Devout Centrist]

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill. The state of indigenous infrastructure and Tribal development requires immediate attention from the Federal Government. Significant investment can improve Tribal schools, hospitals, law enforcement, and other infrastructure. This bill is also fully costed and passes Paygo.

I'm open to amendments and suggestions. I welcome an open debate.

[Devout Centrist]

This bill is also fully costed and passes Paygo.

Can you expand on the exact numbers in more detail, including but not limited to current funding levels for the BIA and BIE (I assume the bill is referring to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education, and that the word 'Department' should be changed) and last year's expenses toward F-35 purchases?

(Also, for the benefit of other people viewing this thread, here is the link that specifies that a $16/proof gallon tax would result in 6.6 bn in extra revenues).

Yes, I apologize for the incorrect use of 'Department' where it should read 'Bureau'. I will correct this via amendment.

The current annual budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is approximately $2.5 Billion and that includes the Bureau of Indian Education. Procurement for F-35's in 2018 costed $11.5 Billion, with orders planned for 2019 and 2020, and another new deal scheduled for 2020 to 2025. I don't have exact estimates on those figures yet, but we do have development costs per fighter. The F-35A averages around $91 million per fighter; the F-35B averages around $121 million. Total projected procurement should cost in the range of $350 Billion for 2,456 fighters when the program is completed.

In short, perhaps my comments were premature. If estimates fall below expectations, I will propose another amendment to make this bill pass paygo.

EDIT: Dammit, I was using ten year estimates from the CBO. I'll author an amendment to get this bill to pass Paygo. I want to apologize for my remarks; obviously my statement was incorrect.

[Devout Centrist]

I propose the following amendment:

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[Devout Centrist]

So just something to put out here during the debate stage. The Revenue Enhancement Act as amended, which is awaiting a final vote in the House, increases the excise tax on alcohol from the present rate to $15 per proof gallon. The law has not yet changed however so Encke's numbers are for the time being correct. Just take note that if the revenue Enhancement act is passed, the net gain from the tax change proposed here will be reduced. A fix for that would be to dedicate the alcohol tax change from the revenue Enhancement act towards this bill to keep the numbers Encke offered steady, although Pericles has a bill claiming 90% of all revenue from the revenue Enhancement act so yall might have to figure that out since there may not be enough money for both.

Very well, I'll explore other options for raising revenue.

[Devout Centrist]

Is it really a good idea to spend 25 billion dollars (!!!) on these agencies at this point in time? Is it necessary to accomplish their goals?

Here are some statistics on Native American Reservations:

--Median household income for Native Americans is $39,719; Median household income for the average family is $59,039
--Over 26% of Native Americans live below the Federal poverty line, compared with just 12.3% of the general public in 2017. 33.8% of Native children live in poverty, compared with 19.5% of the public (2016). These statistics are even worse on Reservations
--19.2% of Native Americans lack health insurance
--Native life expectancy is 73.0 years compared to 78.5 years for the general population
--In fact, for almost all causes of mortality, Native Americans rank higher than the general population and most subgroups
--Crime rates are far higher on Reservations and most perpetrators from off the Rez are never prosecuted
--40% of infrastructure on Reservations is substandard; over 33% of housing is overcrowded; few than 50% of homes are connected to public sewage and 15% lack plumbing
--Many homes lack phone services and even more lack a broadband connection
--Banking on Reservations is difficult and often made harder by the lack of institutions
--Due to their geographic position relative to major metropolitan areas, Reservations also have far higher rates of unemployment and underemployment

We can discuss the means to solve this problem, but the reality of the situation is clear. The Federal Government needs to help these communities in any way possible. I'm open to amending this bill, but development takes time and money. An annual budget of $2.5 billion will not sufficiently help these Reservations with new economic development. A big push is needed in order to build and repair Tribal infrastructure.

[Devout Centrist]

So, another question: is the money appropriated to the Division of Tribal Grants (being a part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs) a part of the BIA's budget, or is it separate?

If it's separate, then expenditures for FY2020 would be something like 12.5 bn+7.5 bn extra funding (compared to present levels) for the BIA and BIE, plus 10 bn for the DTG, which seems to still produce a deficit even making allowances for forecasted increases in F-35 production (which would bring yearly spending on that program to ~13-14 bn).

Edit: Nvm about the deficit, just saw your edit about the 10-yr stuff

The Division on Tribal Grants shares its funding with the Bureau of Indian Affairs

[Devout Centrist]

Currently, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education receives an annual budget of $2.5 Billion. Increasing that to $25 Billion, over four years, would amount to $100 Billion. Subtracting the existing annual budget of the Bureaus, that brings the cost down to $90 Billion. Eliminating purchases and development of F-35's, annually, would reduce this gap by anywhere from $52 Billion to $70 Billion over four years (assuming F-35 procurement at current levels and current development costs). The leaves a gap between $38 Billion to $20 Billion. The increased tax on alcoholic beverages would have reduce this deficit to between $5 Billion to a surplus of $13 Billion.

However, I have opted to explore different alternatives for funding. As it stands, I will be removing the increased tax levied on alcohol. The current gap in this bill, without the alcohol excise tax increase, is $38 Billion.

Once again, I hope that my colleagues will offer amendments to this bill. I think there are many worthy Tribal initiatives that this program can fund and I'm open to suggestions.

[Devout Centrist]

I would like to propose the following amendment:

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This move will fully cost the bill.

[Devout Centrist]

I would like to propose the following amendment:

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This move will fully cost the bill.

Budgeting over longer than a year in-game is fraught with difficulties bit I have some numbers to see how we should proceed. Up until now, I have exclusively been calculating costs and savings on an annual basis. That includes the very unscientific policy of dividing unbroken down 10 year forecasts by 10, even though 10 year estimates are rarely the same amount each year. But its sort of what we have to do in a game with 6 federal elections per year.

As written, this bill has a 4 year cost of $110 Billion with $35 Billion due this year. Eliminating LIFO (along with 2 other inventory methods we can address after the above amendment passes) would generate an estimated $45ish Billion (not exactly sure since our in game tax base is different than real life and still needs calculating) over the same 4 year period, with about $6.5 Billion coming in year 1 and $13 Billion a year for the next 3 years before basically dropping to zero as taxpayers adjust to the new inventory method.

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If it isn't clear, the $10 Billion dedicated solely to the Divison on Tribal Grants is supposed to come from the total budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as it is a subsidiary to the Bureau. I can eliminate that passage via amendment if needed.

The current budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education is $2.5 Billion per year. My measure would increase that by $22.5 Billion over four years. I'm not sure I can properly cost this measure without using real world numbers.

As it stands, cutting procurement of F-35's would save at least $11.5 Billion per year. Eliminating LIFO would generate about $45.5 Billion over four years. Over four years, that comes out to at least $91.5 Billion. Does Paygo have to be satisfied every fiscal year or just over the entirety of the program?

[Devout Centrist]

The other 2 inventory accounting methods that need to be eliminated along with LIFO, are the Lower of Cost or Market method  (LCM) and the Subnormal Goods method. Both are used less frequently than LIFO but were included in the numbers I found.

Subnormal goods is already eliminated via the amendment; LCM is Section 471, so I'll go ahead and amend that today.

[Devout Centrist]

I propose the following amendment:

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[Devout Centrist]

If my colleagues have no further questions, I believe we should start a final vote.

[Devout Centrist]

The other 2 inventory accounting methods that need to be eliminated along with LIFO, are the Lower of Cost or Market method  (LCM) and the Subnormal Goods method. Both are used less frequently than LIFO but were included in the numbers I found.

Again, Section 471 of SEC 3302 covers LCM and was amended so that the wording specifically excludes lower or cost of market. I introduced an amendment after you pointed that out. Subnormal goods is already eliminated as an inventory write down in point 2 of Section 6.

[Devout Centrist]

Aye