The Nebraska Legislature's General Affairs Committee held a hearing on Monday for a bill that would ban new liquor licenses in a town that caters mostly to Indian consumers.

Sen. Don Preister is critical of beer establishments in Whiteclay, which has a population of 16 but sells 11,000 cans of beer every day. Most of the clients come from the Pine Ridge Reservation, just over the border in South Dakota. Liquor is banned on the reservation.

A lobbyist for the Nebraska Licensed Beverage Association spoke against the bill. "This is not a Nebraska problem, it's a South Dakota problem," he said, according to the Associated Press.

Preister has introduced another bill that would revive a 5-mile buffer zone around the reservation where liquor would be banned.

Get the Story:
Panel looks at Whiteclay problems (AP 2/10)

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