Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act of 2026

“(B) Indian tribe—For purposes of this paragraph, the term Indian Tribe means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.”

“(h) Certain Tribal government plans grandfathered—Plans established before the date of enactment of this subsection and maintained by an Indian tribal government, an agency, instrumentality, or subdivision of an Indian tribal government, or an entity established under Federal, State, or Tribal law which is wholly owned or controlled by any of the foregoing, in compliance with subsection (b) shall be treated as if established by an eligible employer under subsection (e)(1)(A). A plan described in the preceding sentence may, at the election of the employer, continue to be maintained without regard to the preceding sentence or be amended if necessary to be maintained in compliance with this section.”

“(C) Application of standards to certain employees and plans—The provisions of paragraph (2)(D)(ii) shall not apply to—

“(i) employees described in section 410(b)(3), and

“(ii) a governmental plan within the meaning of section 414(d).”

“7531. Uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans

“(a) In general—A Tribal pension plan shall be subject to the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans.

“(b) Personal liability

“(1) In general—Any person who is a fiduciary with respect to a Tribal pension plan who breaches any of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon fiduciaries by the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans, shall be personally liable to make good to such plan any losses to the plan resulting from each such breach, and to restore to such plan any profits of such fiduciary which have been made through use of assets of the plan by the fiduciary, and shall be subject to such other equitable or remedial relief as the court may deem appropriate, including removal of such fiduciary.

“(2) No liability for prior breach—No fiduciary shall be liable with respect to a breach of fiduciary duty under this section if such breach was committed before the fiduciary became a fiduciary or after the fiduciary ceased to be a fiduciary.

“(c) Nondiscrimination

“(1) No interference with protected rights—It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge, fine, suspend, expel, discipline, or discriminate against a participant or beneficiary for exercising any right to which the participant or beneficiary is entitled under the provisions of a Tribal pension plan or under the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans, or for the purpose of interfering with the attainment of any right to which such participant or beneficiary may become entitled under such plan or the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans.

“(2) Nondiscrimination—Contributions or benefits provided under a Tribal pension plan shall not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees (within the meaning of section 414(q)).

“(d) Definitions and special rules—For purposes of this section—

“(1) Tribal pension plan—The term Tribal pension plan means any qualified employer retirement plan (as defined in section 72(d)(1)(G)) which—

“(A) is a governmental plan (as defined in section 414(d)),

“(B) has at least 500 active participants, and

“(C) is established or maintained for the employees of an Indian tribal government, an agency, instrumentality, or subdivision of an Indian tribal government, or an entity established under Federal, State, or Tribal law which is wholly owned or controlled by any of the foregoing.

“(2) Uniform protections and fiduciary standards for tribal pension plans—The term uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans means that in connection with a fiduciary’s duties with respect to a Tribal pension plan the fiduciary shall discharge those duties—

“(A) solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries,

“(B) for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries,

“(C) to defray reasonable expenses of administering the plan,

“(D) with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims,

“(E) by diversifying the investments of the plan so as to minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so, and

“(F) in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the plan insofar as such documents and instruments are consistent with the requirements of the preceding subparagraphs.

“(3) Control over assets by participant or beneficiary—In the case of a Tribal pension plan which provides for individual accounts and permits a participant or beneficiary to exercise control over the assets in their account, if a participant or beneficiary exercises control over the assets in their account—

“(A) such participant or beneficiary shall not be deemed to be a fiduciary by reason of such exercise, and

“(B) no person who is otherwise a fiduciary shall be liable under this section for any loss, or by reason of any breach, which results from such participant’s or beneficiary’s exercise of control.

“(e) Notice requirements—The plan administrator for any Tribal pension plan shall cause to be furnished to each participant covered under the plan a summary plan description. The summary plan description and any notice of material modifications shall be provided or made available to participants within a reasonable period following the effective date of a participant’s coverage or the effective date of material changes to the plan, as applicable. The summary plan description shall—

“(1) be written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant,

“(2) be sufficiently accurate and comprehensive to reasonably apprise such participants and beneficiaries of their rights and obligations under the plan, and

“(3) specify any material modification in the terms to the plan made after the previous summary plan description.

“(f) Persons empowered To bring a civil action—In the case of a Tribal pension plan, a civil action may be brought—

“(1) by a participant or beneficiary to recover benefits due under the terms of the plan, to enforce rights under the terms of the plan, or to clarify rights to future benefits under the terms of the plan;

“(2) by a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary for relief for any loss for which a fiduciary is personally liable under this section; and

“(3) by a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary—

“(A) to enjoin any act or practice which violates any provision of the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans, or

“(B) to obtain other appropriate equitable relief—

“(i) to redress such violations, or

“(ii) to enforce any provisions of the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans or the terms of the plan.

“(g) Status of Tribal pension plan as entity—A Tribal pension plan may sue or be sued under this section as an entity. Service of summons, subpoena, or other legal process of a court upon a trustee or an administrator of a Tribal pension plan in such capacity shall constitute service upon the Tribal pension plan. Any money judgment under this section against a Tribal pension plan shall be enforceable only against the plan as an entity and shall not be enforceable against any other person or entity.

“(h) Jurisdiction—Enforcement actions related to the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans shall be in the applicable Tribal court unless the Indian tribal government has opted to limit Tribal court jurisdiction for such actions in favor of Federal court enforcement. In the absence of an established Tribal court, or for Indian tribal governments who have elected to limit their Tribal court’s jurisdiction to exclude claims for enforcing the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans, a participant or beneficiary may seek enforcement in the district court of the United States for the district where the plan has its principal office, or in the United States District for the District of Columbia. When applicable, the district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction without respect to the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties.

“(i) Attorney’s fees and costs—The court, in its discretion, may allow an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary who prevails in an action to enforce the uniform protections and fiduciary standards for Tribal pension plans.

“(j) Coordination with other tribal laws and protections—Nothing in this section shall preempt or otherwise prevent an Indian Tribe from adopting additional laws and protections not inconsistent with this section.

“(k) Regulations—The Secretary shall work with the Tribal Advisory Committee established pursuant to section 3 of the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014, and in consultation with Indian tribal governments and relevant governmental agencies, to develop regulatory guidance under this section, as well as the enforcement of such standards.”

“(4) Additional allocations for tribal area investments

“(A) In general—In the case of each calendar year after 2026, there is (in addition to any limitation under any other paragraph of this subsection) a new markets tribal area tax credit limitation of $175,000,000 which shall be allocated by the Secretary as provided in paragraph (2) except—

“(i) that such allocation shall only be allocated with respect to qualified tribal area investments, and

“(ii) in addition to the priorities described in paragraph (2), the Secretary may give priority to any entity with a record of having successfully provided capital or technical assistance in tribal statistical areas.

“(B) Carryover of unused new markets tribal area tax credit limitation

“(i) In general—If the new markets tribal area tax credit limitation under subparagraph (A) for any calendar year exceeds the amount of such limitation allocated by the Secretary for such calendar year, such limitation for the succeeding calendar year shall be increased by the amount of such excess.

“(ii) Limitation on carryover—No amount of new markets tribal area tax credit limitation may be carried under clause (i) past the 5th calendar year following the calendar year in which such amount of new markets tribal area tax credit limitation arose.

“(iii) Transfer of expired new markets tribal area tax credit limitation to general limitation—In the case of any amount of new markets tribal area tax credit limitation which would (but for clause (ii)) be carried under clause (i) to the 6th calendar year following the calendar year in which such amount of new markets tribal area credit limitation arose, the new market tax credit limitation under paragraph (1) for such 6th calendar year shall be increased by the amount of such new markets tribal area tax credit limitation.

“(C) Allocations restricted to qualified tribal area investments—For purposes of this section—

“(i) subsection (b)(2) shall be applied separately with respect to the new markets tax credit limitation under paragraph (1) and the new markets tribal area tax credit limitation under this paragraph,

“(ii) any designation under subsection (b)(1)(C) shall indicate the source and amount of the limitation to which such designation relates, and

“(iii) in the case of any investment which is designated under subsection (b)(1)(C) using amounts of the new market tribal area tax credit limitation allocated under this paragraph, subsection (b)(1)(B) shall be applied by substituting “qualified tribal area investments” for “qualified low-income community investments”.

“(D) Qualified tribal area investments—For purposes of this paragraph, the term qualified tribal area investment means—

“(i) any capital or equity investment in, or loan to, any qualified active tribal community business,

“(ii) the purchase from another community development entity of any loan made by such entity which is a qualified tribal area investment,

“(iii) financial counseling and other services specified in regulations prescribed by the Secretary to businesses located in, and residents of, tribal statistical areas, and

“(iv) any equity investment in, or loan to, any qualified community development entity if substantially all of the proceeds of such investment or loan are used by such qualified community development entity to make qualified tribal area investments.

“(E) Qualified active tribal community business—For purposes of this paragraph—

“(i) In general—The term qualified active tribal community business has the meaning which would be given the term qualified active low-income community business under subsection (d)(2) if “tribal statistical area” were substituted for “low-income community” each place it appears therein.

“(ii) Inclusion of certain qualified active low-income community businesses which serve tribal areas—The term qualified active tribal community business includes any qualified active low-income community business which—

“(I) provides good or services to a significant population of Tribal, Alaska Native village, or Native Hawaiian community members, who are residents of a tribal statistical area, and

“(II) obtains a written statement from one or more relevant Indian tribal governments (as defined in section 7871(b)(4)(A)) (or, in the case of Native Hawaiian community members, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, as defined in section 801 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221)) that documents the eligibility of such qualified active low-income community business with respect to the requirement of subclause (I).

“(F) Tribal statistical area—For purposes of this paragraph, the term tribal statistical area means any low-income community which is located in any area determined by the Secretary, after consultation with the Bureau of the Census, as a Tribal Census Tract, Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area, Tribal-Designated Statistical Area, Alaska Native Village Statistical Area, or Hawaiian Home Lands.”