"If you want to be involved in tribal economic development, it helps to be an optimist. I have always been the ultimate optimist and have helped build Ho-Chunk, Inc., a successful tribal corporation from scratch out here on the prairie of Nebraska. But lately what I have been witnessing as a tribal CEO, tribal lawyer and chairman of the Native American Contractors Association is enough to test my optimism, and I am now at serious risk of becoming a bitter pessimist. Can you still join AIM?

A lot of people think the days of taking from Indian country are over, but they are not. Two recent laws passed by Congress send a clear reminder to tribes. The much hated PACT ACT basically was designed to kill the Seneca Nation’s economy by stopping the U.S. Post Office from mailing tobacco. Also, Congress added a devious provision called Section 811 to a defense appropriations bill last year that put a cap on tribal set-asides for government contracting. The cap originally was going to apply to all contractors, but after a closed door conference meeting between the House and Senate ended, it only applied to tribal contractors.

Both laws were lobbied for by competitors of the tribes. Big tobacco and the increasingly desperate state tax administrators lobbied for the PACT ACT. Large government contracting companies lobbied for Section 811 to limit the growth of tribal contracting. These changes will result in the tribes losing thousands of jobs.

Now the economy has been bad and a lot of people have lost jobs. But this is much different. We didn’t lose these jobs in the economic environment. We lost these jobs in the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. "

Get the Story:
Lance Morgan: Legal theft of the worst kind (Indian Country Today 8/2)

Relevant Documents:
ATF Letter on Tribal Consultation (May 19, 2010)

Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act.
H.R.1676 | S.1147

Related Stories:
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County lawmaker eyes support on tax free Seneca Nation tobacco (7/21)
Judge extends PACT Act restraining order for Seneca businesses (7/8)
Seneca Nation smoke shops shut down mail-order operations (6/30)
Seneca Nation smoke shop gets restraining order for PACT Act (6/29)
Seneca Nation defends tobacco sales on treaty anniversary (05/24)
ATF schedules tribal consultation on tobacco trafficking law (5/20)
Obama signs cigarette trafficking bill over tribal objections (4/1)
Seneca Nation asks Obama to veto cigarette mailing bill (03/19)
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Editorial: PACT Act puts a halt to Internet tobacco sales (3/17)
White House weighs stance on cigarette trafficking bill (3/16)
Seneca Nation blasts passage of cigarette trafficking bill (3/15)
Lance Morgan: PACT Act a hidden power grab for states (3/12)
Seneca Nation lobbies against cigarette trafficking bill (3/8)
New York governor proposes tobacco tax regulations (02/24)
Seneca Nation targets Sen. Gillibrand for tobacco bill (01/25)
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New York governor puts Indian tobacco tax in new budget (1/19)
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