Tribal Nation leaders gave Oklahoma lawmakers a history lesson on compacts they’ve had with the state during an interim study on the subject this week.
In the 1990s tribal nations were selling tobacco without collecting taxes when it was sold to non-Native customers. A US Supreme Court decision said the state can't collect those taxes.
But Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby told lawmakers the tribes didn’t want to hurt the state during an interim study at the state capitol. Anoatubby has a thirty year institutional memory involving the state's compacting history.
"Four of the tribes, which included the Chickasaw and the Choctaw, the Cherokee and the Seminole, approached the governor about coming to terms, having an agreement," Anoatubby said.
Thus the first tribal-state compact on tobacco was created. It was the first of many compacts tribal nations entered into with the state.
He said the compact allowed Oklahoma to collect the taxes while allowing tribal nations money for vital programs they needed. Ultimately, Anoatubby said, it's about tribal sovereignty
"These compacts allow us to sell tobacco and to work with the state and use the revenue for needed cost of tribal government," Anoatubby told members of the legislature.
Since those early days, the state and tribal governments have entered into more than 500 compacting agreements on everything from hunting and fishing to ticket revenue sharing.
House Speaker Charles McCall says he wants to ensure these long-lasting relationships can continue.
"I believe it will be very important for our state and for all people in the state of Oklahoma that compacting continue to be a forum for solutions for our state to move forward," McCall said at the beginning of the interim study.
Sovereignty doesn’t have to come at the expense of Oklahoma
During the special session last summer, state lawmakers overrode two of Gov. Kevin Stitt's vetoes regarding tribal and vehicle tag compacts.
Anoatubby provided a 29 page report that explained some of this history and legal underpinnings that allow compacting.
“Like Oklahoma’s relationship with the federal government and other states, the relationship between Oklahoma and Tribal nations is grounded in the United States Constitution,” Anoatubby’s report said. “Like those other relationships, neither party controls the other: Oklahoma cannot control Tribal nations, and Tribal nations cannot control Oklahoma. Instead, we must find ways to work together.”
"We want to restore and strengthen this joint Committee on State Tribal Relations by providing it with additional resources and appropriate rulemaking to support its important function," Anoatubby concluded.
In the 1990s tribal state relations were at a low point due to the disagreements over tobacco sales tax until the state signed compacts that would allow them to collect taxes. Later, other compacts were signed over motor fuel taxes-which were also affected by the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The disagreement reached a nadir when the Oklahoma Tax Commission sent a letter to the Chickasaw Nation saying they needed to pay taxes. Governor Anoatubby remembers getting a letter from the local sheriff saying local government officials intended to sell his house and property over these same unpaid taxes. The case ended up in the Supreme Court and justices sided with the Chickasaw Nation.
One Daily Oklahoman article from 1995 said the state was losing out on nearly $1 million in revenue because they couldn't collect taxes at fueling stations on tribal land.
Cherokee Nation principal chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. told lawmakers, though, that these issues stretched back to Oklahoma statehood.
"We have to understand that the imposition of the state of Oklahoma, its political boundaries, its governing operations, was an imposition on tribal sovereignty," Hoskin Jr. said in his remarks to the committee. But, he was quick to say that tribal sovereignty doesn't need to come at the expense of state sovereignty.
Stitt proposal on sports gaming looms large over proceedings
A few days before the committee gathered, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt put forth a proposal on sports betting that would have largely excluded the tribes.
The proposal would allow in-person betting at tribally run casinos but would open up mobile sports betting to anyone willing to pay a $500,000 license fee and renewal fees in the future.
The proposal was panned by the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. They said that they are disappointed Stitt has not had a "respectful government-to-government discussion with tribal nations on the issue."
The interim study is yet another way the state legislature and tribal nations have come together to reach agreements when negotiations with the governor have broken down.
"I see the legislature viewing this relationship as not some zero sum game in which some win for the tribes is some defeat for the state," Hoskin Jr. said.
Hoskin Jr. and Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton explained the economic benefit tobacco, tag and gaming compacts have had on education and bolstering the state's economy.
Rep. Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, asked tribal leaders about letters the Governor had sent out over the summer proposing a new tobacco tax. Anoatubby said he had received a letter and was willing to negotiate with the governor but had some issues with where tobacco shops could be located.
Anoatubby also recalled being disappointed that the negotiations weren't kept confidential and that members of the press had gotten wind of the negotiations, which came as a surprise to his administration.
"These days, I don't put anything in an email," Anoatbby said, which prompted laughs from the fellow members.
Chief Batton said he and other tribal leaders also received that same letter, but viewed it as a, "demand as opposed to a negotiation."
Batton told members of the committee that sending a letter is not how to agree and that the preferred way to solve issues when it comes to compacting is to meet face-to-face.
"The main thing we just asked for is cooperation and respect. And that doesn't cost a whole lot of money," Muscogee Nation Second Chief Del Beaver said.
