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Governor disappoints state’s Indian legislators

Gov. Judy Martz got off to a warm start with Native Americans, visiting all seven Indian reservations early in her term and pledging to treat tribes as separate nations and help address their needs.

By PETER JOHNSON
Tribune Capitol Bureau

But several of the record seven Indian legislators, all Democrats, now complain that the regular consulting has slipped by the wayside and the Republican governor is offering them little help in getting legislation passed that is important to Montana Indians.

"Governor Martz seemed to really care, and Native people were looking forward to a good, productive working relationship with her," said Rep. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, a three-term legislator. "But our relations with the governor are strained now, and I don’t anticipate us having too much success in getting financial measures passed this session that will help the Indian people."

Juneau, Rep. Norma Bixby, D-Lame Deer, and Rep. Veronica Small-Eastman, D-Lodge Grass, raised a number of concerns, such as the governor’s office failing to consult Indians before cutting social programs or omitting the reservations entirely from the state’s economic development strategic plan.

A few, but not all, of the Indian legislators objected to the governor’s attempt to get around Indian lawmakers’ opposition to transferring coal-tax trust fund money. In what Bixby called a "divide and conquer" attempt, Martz urged the legislators’ tribal leaders to support the controversial measure.

Freshman Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, also a member of the Chippewa Cree Business Council, said he saw nothing wrong with the governor going to tribal leaders.

"It was in the spirit of government-to-government consultation for Montana’s top chief to talk to tribal leaders," he said. "And it was up to each tribe to decide whether to support her on the issue."

Still, Windy Boy said, communications between the governor and Indians has been spotty. He plans to introduce a bill that would require quarterly, daylong meetings between Martz and tribal leaders and annual training and field experience on reservations for all state managers and employees who deal regularly with tribes.

In a brief interview Friday, Martz said she remains sympathetic to the Indian people.

"My heart has not changed toward them one bit," she stressed. "If we can help bring economic development to the reservations, it will not only help them, but the whole state benefits."

Martz called it unfortunate that she, tribal leaders and legislators don’t seem to get together very often, but added: "Communications is a two-way street, just like in a marriage."

The seven Indian legislators making up the American Indian Caucus asked Martz earlier in the week for a meeting to discuss their concerns. The governor’s office said Friday they hope to meet late next week.

Here’s a summary of the major issues raised by the Indian legislators and the responses given by Martz staffers:

Lack of consultation

Their first concern is lack of consultation on budget cuts, which hit reservations with steep unemployment rates particularly hard.

"A large number of Indian families on and off the reservation really need help," Juneau said. "As many as half the people on some reservations qualify for temporary assistance for needy families."

But Native American legislators were not consulted about proposed cuts planned for social programs, she said.

In fact, Juneau said, when Martz and chief policy adviser Tom Beck met with tribal leaders Nov. 7, just a week before the budget was released, the governor’s schedule was so tight that she limited each tribe to three minutes.

"Indians now call it ‘the three-minute consultation,’" Juneau said with a shrug. "That minimal communications doesn’t go along with her pledge of government-to-government consultation."

In response, Beck said, "No outside groups, including the reservations, had much input into the budget" because some major parts of the plan were being hashed out within the administration until just days before its Nov. 15 release.

Acting Indian Affairs Coordinator Lori Ryan said she had moved up the date for the meeting between tribal leaders and Martz, at the tribal leaders’ request, with the understanding that Martz’s time would be limited.

Ryan also stressed that Public Health and Human Services Director Gail Gray met with tribal leaders to explain potential health cuts for two hours in late June, before the special legislative session enacted the cuts.

Economically invisible

Another concern of Indian lawmakers was the failure of the governor’s economic development coordinator, Dave Gibson, to mention the state’s financially struggling Indian reservations in "Road Map for a New Economy," which outlines the governor’s economic goals for the next decade.

"I’m not sure if they deliberately ignore us or we were just forgotten," Juneau said.

"It’s like we’re invisible," Bixby added.

Gibson said the booklet doesn’t focus on any single area, but seeks common solutions that will help all areas grow, including reservations. Ryan said Gibson has been open to suggestions by tribal leaders.

Redistricting battle

Many are troubled by the governor’s support for Republican legislative measures attempting to overturn the redistricting plan that would create additional legislative districts in which Indians comprise a majority.

The plan of the Districting and Apportionment Commission is now tied up in a legal battle.

Republican legislators may claim they’re not trying to eliminate Indian districts, Bixby said, but by reducing the discretionary sizing error from 5 to 1 percent, they’re ensuring that three current Indian legislators, including her, have districts with more whites than Indians. Such a change would make it difficult, if not impossible, to get re-elected.

The higher deviation would have allowed slightly less-populated Indian majority districts, which courts have allowed to encourage minority participation in government, she said.

Republicans have contended that the Democratic-controlled commission deliberately created districts that would help Democrats win future elections.

Coal-tax support

There also is distress over a meeting in which Martz tried to persuade tribal leaders to support her effort to transfer $93 million from the coal-tax trust to the general fund, thereby avoiding even more severe budget cuts.

"I firmly believe that keeping the coal trust intact is in the state’s best interest because it provides financial stability," Bixby said. "The governor tried to circumvent Indian legislators by going to tribal leaders to get support. It was a divide-and-conquer tactic that pitted Indian against Indian."

Juneau agreed the governor "was trying to drive a wedge between us" and should have consulted Native American legislators first.

Windy Boy disagreed, saying it was legitimate for the top Montana state leader to go to top tribal leaders.

Chuck Butler, Martz’s communications director said the governor "was respecting the tribal leaders by meeting with them to discuss issues.

"It’s part of the government-to-government relations she advocates," Butler said.

Transfer of funds

Native American legislators expressed surprise that the governor sought to transfer $153,000 from the state-tribal economic development commission to the state general fund without telling them.

Juneau said the legislators found out about the shift, testified against the bill by Rep. Stan Fisher, R-Bigfork, and got it killed.

Beck conceded the governor’s office mistakenly failed to notify the legislators, although Indian Affairs Coordinator Ryan had called the tribal leaders.

Beck said the governor’s office won’t try to transfer the money again this session. But, he added, the commission was allocated $200,000 four years ago and has not accomplished much yet.

Ryan said the commission got off to a slow start, hasn’t met since March and has no long-range plans. She said tribal leaders, too, are adamant that the commission needs to reorganize and get things done.

No help for key bills

Some Indian lawmakers are disappointed in a lack of support by the governor and Ryan for key bills helping Indians, especially spending bills.

Juneau called it "highly ironic" that Martz made a big deal in her State of the State address about rewarding districts that implement a program for teaching Indian culture in schools; earlier in the day, a legislative subcommittee had rejected a request to spend $60,000 a year to develop model curriculums and teacher-training for the program.

The governor or Ryan should have testified in support of that measure and others, such as a bill by Bixby that would provide $600,000 a year to tribal colleges to cover students who aren’t enrolled tribal members, Juneau said.

The governor also did not support Juneau’s bill calling for a study of the severe Indian dropout problem and Windy Boy’s bill seeking long-term funding for a cleanup of the Zortman-Landusky mine.

In response, Butler said: "There is only so much money to go around, and a lot of groups aren’t satisfied in these economically tough times that they’re getting their fair share."

Similarly, he added, the governor’s office does not take a position on the vast majority of bills introduced by the Legislature.

Ryan, a Fort Peck tribal member who worked in the Indian Affairs office for 13 years before recently being named acting coordinator, said the office’s primary legal role is to be a liaison between the governor and tribal leaders.

She tracks bills affecting Indians, notifies tribal leaders about them and occasionally delivers their remarks to legislative committees. Ryan said she also helps legislators with research, but has not been asked by either tribal leaders or legislators to testify on behalf of the governor.

Butler said several tribal leaders and a few Indian legislators have good working relationships with Martz and her Indian affairs coordinator.

Ryan said the governor met for nearly an hour this week to talk about water issues with Salish-Kootenai leaders and promptly returned a call from the Fort Belknap tribal leader.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030209/localnews/950693.html

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