Committee Advances Lankford’s Legislation to Strengthen Tribal Parity in Federal Law

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works advanced Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Alex Padilla’s (D-CA) legislation to strengthen tribal parity for the transfer of surplus federal property. The GSA Disposal Process Tribal Parity Act of 2024 would allow tribal governments to participate in an existing process that allows the General Services Administration (GSA) to transfer surplus federal property to state and local governments below market value if those properties will be used for specified public purposes.

This bill would ensure that federal law and the GSA treat tribal governments on an equal basis with state and local governments, and would allow tribal governments to benefit from the same opportunities for land acquisition as state and local governments.

“This bipartisan bill gives tribal governments access to the bidding process to purchase unused federal property, putting them on a level playing field with state and local governments. Allowing more competitiveness and equity to all when purchasing surplus federal properties will prevent waste, increase oversight, and ultimately save taxpayers money,” said Lankford.

“As our nation works to strengthen tribal sovereignty and self-determination, we must ensure parity with tribal governments in our laws,” said Padilla. “It’s long past time we fix this stark omission and allow tribal governments the same opportunities as state and local governments to acquire surplus federal property, which will help provide additional housing, schools, and recreational opportunities for their citizens. Today’s Committee passage represents an important step toward enacting this commonsense bill as quickly as possible.”

Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) are cosponsoring the bill.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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