Oklahoma governor won't agree to tobacco compact extension

Thursday, April 11, 2013  

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) won't agree to extend tribal tobacco compacts that are expiring in June.

Fallin rejected a request by 23 tribes to extend the compacts until 2017. She said she would accept short-term agreements but only if tribes enter into "good-faith negotiations," The Tulsa World reports.

Fallin has renewed compacts with at least two tribes and is reportedly in negotiations for more agreements. But other tribes say their concerns are being ignored.

"They're treating us as Indians and not enterprises," Comanche Nation Chairman Wallace Coffey said in a press release, the paper reported. "They've dismantled the Indian Affairs Commission. We were not consulted on opting out of the Affordable Care Act, and the state has been noticeably silent regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act case pending before the Supreme Court."

Get the Story:
Oklahoma tribes unite in talks on new tobacco sales compacts (The Tulsa World 4/11)

Oklahoma tribes seek to extend talks for tobacco compacts (03/26)
Kaw Nation tobacco compact eliminates lower border sales rate (03/13)
Kaw Nation signs tobacco and 'burn ban' compacts in Oklahoma (03/12)