Janet Mills lobbies Congress to slow down Jared Golden’s tribal-rights measure
Gov. Janet Mills is working around fellow Democrats in Maine’s congressional delegation to slow a tribal sovereignty effort led by Rep. Jared Golden, arguing the policy should be negotiated between the state and tribes before moving forward.
Last week, the governor’s lawyer sent a letter to two top members of the House Appropriations Committee asking them to delay Golden’s measure, which would allow Maine tribes to automatically benefit from future laws affecting Native Americans nationwide. The tribes are now shut out from these laws unless explicitly mentioned under the terms of a 1980s settlement.
The measure is advancing through Congress after passing through the House Natural Resources Committee in mid-June and getting included in a draft version of the interior committee’s budget bill by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine’s 1st District.
The episode illustrates the depth of the break on tribal rights between Maine’s top elected Democrats. Governors often work closely with the congressional delegation on hot-button issues and rarely lobby others in Congress on the major priorities of members. The state’s two U.S. senators have so far been silent on an issue that may reach them soon.
Mills has been clear for months that she opposes Golden’s effort. After she was elected in 2019, she vowed to fix the long-broken state-tribal relationship. But that invited a major sovereignty push from the tribes that the former attorney general has largely resisted, although the sides made progress by passing a bill handing mobile sports betting to tribes this year.
The governor’s office objected to the bill because the state did not help craft it and because it would subvert the 40-year-old settlement that gave tribes millions of dollars in exchange for being treated largely like cities and towns. The letter to the members of Congress from Jerry Reid, Mills’ lawyer, saying she is discussing the measure with tribal leaders.
“The Governor does not want to see the Wabanaki Nations unfairly excluded from certain benefits that are generally available to Federally recognized Tribes, and she believes there is potential for negotiated agreement that would address this concern,” the letter read.
A Mills spokesperson said the governor’s office continues to communicate with the delegation about the bill. A Golden spokesperson said the 2nd District congressman’s office had not been informed of the letter, although Pingree’s office said it had been.
In a statement, Golden said the process of determining if the tribes should be included in federal law does not require state approval and is a congressional matter. He said that while he understood the state is willing to work with the tribes on a compromise, he believed little progress had been made.
“While we welcome good-faith efforts to improve the legislation, we will not slow our forward momentum in advancing a bill on a matter on which Congress has principal authority,” Golden said.
Pingree reiterated in a statement that the Maine tribes should be treated equally to others across the country, calling the current situation a…
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