S612

S. 612, introduced by Sen. Schatz (D-HI) with Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) as cosponsor, passed the Senate by unanimous consent on 2025-12-16 and was received in the House on 2025-12-17 where it currently sits 'held at the desk'. The bill amends the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act to authorize three federal entities — the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations, and other agencies (Commerce, Transportation, Agriculture, HHS, Labor) — to make grants to tribes, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations for recreational travel and tourism activities. The authorized funding is $35 million total for fiscal years 2025 through 2029. This is an authorization ceiling, not an appropriation. Actual spending requires a separate appropriations bill. No appropriation has been enacted for this authorization. The companion bill HR4276 has stalled at subcommittee hearings in the House. Structural winners and losers: There are no clear public-company winners or losers. The authorized grant pool is small ($7M/year average) and flows entirely to tribal and Native Hawaiian governments/organizations — not directly to private companies. Theme park operators (, $FUN), casino operators ($PENN), and hospitality companies could see marginal indirect benefits if grant-funded tourism infrastructure increases visitor traffic near their properties. However, the impact on any individual publicly traded company's revenue would be below materiality thresholds. No defense, technology, or large-cap consumer companies are affected. The legislative timeline: The bill has cleared the Senate. Its path in the House is uncertain — it could be taken up directly or referred to committee. Given the bipartisan sponsorship and unanimous Senate passage, passage is plausible but not certain. Even if enacted, the actual impact depends on future appropriations that have not occurred.