YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyTransparency & AccountabilityThe Crow Tribe would build and own its water system — a job federal law now gives to Washington.
Your Money
Anything the Tribe builds with money from the new account would stay in the Tribe's name. The Tribe would hold title, control, and day-to-day operation of it.
The old law paid for one fixed drinking-water system laid out for the reservation. The new account could pay to plan, build, fix, or run the water and sewer systems the Tribe picks.
Once the on-reservation water projects are done, money still in the account could buy land on the reservation that comes with water rights. That is a new way to spend the money.
Only the Tribe may build and sell power at Yellowtail Afterbay Dam. That window would run twenty years from the 2010 settlement law instead of fifteen.
Right now, federal law makes the federal government plan and build the town water system. That section would be repealed, and the Tribe would do the work with the same money.
The bill says the federal government would have no duty to pay to run, maintain, or replace any of these water projects. Those ongoing costs would sit with the Tribe.
New money for the water account would be moved into a joint account with the Tribe before any investment earnings build up on it. So it would not sit and earn interest first.
Transparency & Accountability
The Tribe would have to tell the Interior Secretary in writing that the water projects are done. Only then could the money left over go toward buying land.
New money for the water account would go into a joint signature account the government and the Tribe agreed on in 2012. More than one party signs to move money out of it.
More about this bill
For families on the Crow Reservation in Montana, who builds the water system would change. Federal law now puts that job in Washington's hands. It would shift to the Crow Tribe, which would own and run what it builds. Washington would owe nothing toward running, fixing, or replacing those systems. The Tribe could also spend the money on sewer lines, treatment plants, and repairs, not just new pipes. The dollar amounts Congress set in the 2010 settlement would not change. New water money would go into one new account that the Tribe spends from. That money would move into a joint account before it earns any interest. After the water work is done, the Tribe would tell the government in writing. It could then spend what is left on reservation land with water rights. The Tribe would also get five more years to finish its power project at Yellowtail Afterbay Dam. The deadline would run twenty years from the 2010 law, not fifteen. Off the reservation, most people would see no change in daily life.
Congressional Summary
Congress's official summary of this bill still describes an earlier version of the text, so we have left it out here. You can read it on Congress.gov.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Passed House and Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-09-14
- Date Added
- 2026-09-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.