St. George • Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy is facing criticism over federal legislation she is sponsoring after a developer seeking to build a golf resort on the Shivwits Band of Paiute Reservation donated a total of $30,500 to her and a political action committee tied to the congresswoman.

Critics say the developer stands to directly profit from the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Jurisdictional Clarity Act, which Maloy and U.S. Sen. John Curtis introduced in April 2025. Opponents question Maloy’s motivation, claiming the bill is tailored to benefit a non-Native developer at the expense of the Shivwits and their sovereignty.

Maloy and tribal leaders strongly defend the bill, calling it a crucial tool for economic development, including the band’s plans to partner with developer Reef Capital to build the 1,250-acre resort on reservation land. The legislation would shift civil jurisdiction on trust lands from tribal to state courts and allow the Shivwits Band to enter into 99-year land leases.

Opponents point to the timing of the campaign donations. On Dec. 17, 2025, the Shivwits Band Council’s then-chair, Tina Gonzales, testified in favor of Maloy’s bill. Two days later, Patrick Manning, managing partner of Reef Capital’s Black Desert Resort, donated $10,500 to Maloy’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Days after the bill passed the House and moved to the Senate in March, Manning contributed $20,000 to Team Celeste, a PAC tied to Maloy, and $20,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

“Money flows from a major developer into a congressional campaign, and suddenly doors open in Washington,” Mary Snow, a Shivwits Band member leading the group opposing the resort, said in a text. “It forces me to ask the hard question: Who does this project really benefit?”

Reached through her campaign, Maloy did not comment directly on the contributions or questions about the timing, but defended her sponsorship of the Clarity Act.

“This bill gives a tribal neighbor a fair opportunity to pursue economic development and build a stronger future for their people,” she said in a statement. “I have worked closely with band leaders in developing this bill. This legislation is the result of those conversations and reflects the solutions the tribe believes will help them move forward while serving their members. The Shivwits Band wants to pursue economic opportunities on their land.”

Manning refuted the allegations and defended his donations. He said he consulted with Maloy because she is his congresswoman, represents the district where the project is located, and was “genuinely enthusiastic about being part of the process.”

“It would have been both improper and disrespectful to go around the representative who had the existing relationship with the tribe,” he said in a text. “I supported her because she was the right person for the right reasons, not because of any expectation of anything in return.”

Manning also denounced suggestions of impropriety on his part, saying his contributions were made in response to routine solicitations from Maloy’s campaign, not in “exchange for her sponsorship or advocacy for the bill.”

“The suggestion that timing alone establishes a transactional relationship ignores how political fundraising actually works,” he added. “Constituents and business leaders routinely support their elected representatives. Having a policy interest in legislation and supporting a representative’s campaign are not mutually exclusive, and conflating them does a disservice to both Rep. Maloy and to me.”

Damon Cann, a political science professor and campaign finance expert at Utah State University, said the timing appears suspect, but emphasized that no laws appear to have been broken.

Federal statute caps individual contributions to congressional candidates at $3,500 per election. Manning’s $10,500 to Maloy’s personal campaign covered $3,500 each for the primary, general election, and state convention.

As for the $20,000 donated to Team Celeste and the NRCC, Cann said that Maloy will likely see very little of that money directly. Instead, it will be distributed to other Republican candidates in competitive races.

The Federal Elections Commission lists Team Celeste as a joint fundraising committee, with Maloy’s PAC, Celeste for Congress, and the NRCC as joint fundraising participants.

“The benefit to her is the credit that comes with having facilitated donations to the national Republican Party,” Cann said. “It builds credibility for her with leadership.”

Economy versus sovereignty

Resort supporters estimate the Shivwits resort could net the 300-plus members of the federally recognized tribe as much as $149 million through land and water leases, while creating at least 135 jobs.

Hope Silvas, acting Shivwits Band Council Chair, previously told The Tribune that the Clarity Act is not specific to the resort proposal and that band leaders — not Reef Capital — are pushing for its passage to prevent legal uncertainty from scaring off developers or stalling development on the reservation.

But the resort’s opponents contend otherwise, pointing to federal lobbying disclosures that show Reef Capital has paid Virginia-based lobbyist Thomas Brierton $180,000 over the past 13 months to lobby Utah’s congressional delegation to support the legislation.

Snow and other critics insist the bill is unnecessary, noting that federal law already allows the band to grant legal jurisdiction if a majority of its members approve the change through a special election – a route Shivwits officials have refused to take thus far.

They further argue the legislation would strip the Shivwits of their right to conduct a band-wide vote on the resort, forcing state jurisdiction upon them against their will and causing the band to lose control of its land and water rights.