"Thomas Jensen’s article in ICT (available here) identifying a possible “silver lining for tribal sovereignty” in the context of shrinking federal and state budgets seems, on first glance, to be counterintuitive, but the thinking is dead-on.

All around Michigan, anyway, tribes and local governments have become more and more interconnected and interdependent. Since 1993, when the first Class III compacts came into being, and where the tribes agreed to share two percent of their net win the local units of government, local governments have grown used to (and even dependent upon) tribal revenue sharing. The two percent payments fill needs in local government budgets, and generate more and more cooperation between governments.

Similarly, and on a broader scale, the settlement of a major reservation boundaries case at Saginaw Chippewa has provided models on how tribes and local governments can cooperate on everything from tax collection to hot pursuits to environmental protection."

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Shrinking Federal and State Budgets a Possible Boon to Indian Country? (Turtle Talk 10/5)