taxation

Kevin Washburn to be 2016 NITA Keynote

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here (Kevin Washburn Press Release 8-8-2016):

NITA is pleased to announce Kevin Washburn, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law as this year’s Keynote .

Dean Kevin Washburn
Dean Kevin Washburn (Photo by Mark Holm © 2011_for UNM School of Law)

Keynote Speaker.  Kevin Washburn is currently a law professor, and was previously the dean, of the UNM School of Law.  Washburn previously served as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Obama Administration in Washington, D.C. from 2012 through the end of 2015. In that role, he was the highest ranking official in charge of federal Indian policy for the United States government, overseeing the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education, together consisting of more than 8000 employees, and executed a budget of roughly $2.8 Billion. He also testified approximately thirty times before Congressional Committees and worked on a daily basis with the White House. He also appeared several times before the United Nations in Geneva to defend our nation’s adherence to international treaties.

Washburn graduated from Yale Law School, and has been a trial attorney at the Department of Justice in Washington and a federal prosecutor in New Mexico. He also served as the general counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission, a federal regulatory agency in Washington, D.C.  As an academic, he has taught law at the University of Arizona, the University of Minnesota and Harvard Law School. He also has several books to his name, and is a co-author/co-editor of the Cohen Handbook.

Washburn began his legal education in 1990 at the Pre-Law Summer Institute at the University of New Mexico. He is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

NITA is honored and pleased to have Kevin Washburn as the keynote speaker for this year’s conference.  Additional conference details and registration information can be found on NITA’s website at:  http://intertribaltaxalliance.org/

2016 National Intertribal Tax Alliance Conference (Sept. 13-15, 2016)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Details here.

Kevin Washburn is the keynote speaker.

As always, NITA is one the premier Indian law conferences of the year.

Conference-Brochure_Page_01

New York Largely Prevails in Smokes Suit against King Mountain Tobacco

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in State of New York v. King Mountain Tobacco Co. (E.D. N.Y.):

195-1 King Mountain Motion for Summary J

197-1 NY Cross Motion

201 NY Opposition

202 King Mtn Opposition

205 King Mtn Reply

206 NY Reply

214 DCT Order

Complaint in Automotive United Trades Org. v. Friends of Bob Ferguson

Ann Tweedy

In this case, Automotive United Trades Organization seeks to prohibit political campaigns from accepting contributions from tribes on the theory that those contributions represent public monies and are therefore illegal under Washington law. The complaint is here.

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Injunction Favoring Poarch Band against Escambia County Assessor

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Poarch Band of Creek Indians v. Hildreth.

An excerpt:

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians (“Poarch Band”) sued James Hildreth,
Tax Assessor of Escambia County, Alabama, for declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the assessment of property taxes on lands owned by the Poarch Band in Escambia County, Alabama, and held in trust by the United States (“Trust Property”). The Poarch Band maintains the Trust Property is exempt from taxation pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (“IRA”). See 25 U.S.C. § 465.1 The district court granted injunctive relief barring the tax assessment efforts during the pendency of the case, and Hildreth appeals.2 Finding no abuse of discretion and no error of law, we affirm.

Briefs here.

Federal Court Confirms Arbitration Award in Favor of Citizen Potawatomi against Oklahoma

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Citizen Potawatomi Nation v. Oklahoma (W.D. Okla.):

16. Memorandum Opinion and Order 6-21-16

17. Judgment 6-21-16

Award

We posted commentary on this matter here.

 

SCOTUS Denies Cert in Seminole Tax, American Samoan Birthright Citizenship Cases

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order list today. The Court denied cert in Seminole Tribe v. Biegalski. The petition and lower court briefs are here.

The Court also denied cert in Tuaua v. United States, the American Samoan birthright citizenship case.

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Sues over Michigan Sales & Use and Tobacco Taxes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Keweenaw Bay Indian Community v. Khouri (W.D. Mich.):

Complaint

ROW Claim Against City in Santa Clara Pueblo Negotiation Dispute

Sarah M Donnelly

Download complaint in United States v. City of Española, 16-cv-00391 (D. N.M.) here.

The DOJ is using its authority as trustee under the Indian Right-of-Way Act to sue the City of Española over expired easements for water and sewer systems.  Much of the City is on the Pueblo and both the City and the Pueblo rely on the infrastructure the City provides, but the grants expired in 1994 and 2002.  The federal government claims the City is trespassing and seeks monetary damages and ejection if the City cannot negotiate settlement.

New Paper Focuses on Double Taxation in Indian Country

Sarah M Donnelly

Link to article here.

Citation and abstract:

Croman, K. S., & Taylor, J. B. (2016). Why beggar thy Indian neighbor? The case for tribal primacy in taxation in Indian country. Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs (JOPNA 2016-1). Tucson, AZ and Cambridge, MA: Native Nations Institute and Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.

The law governing taxation in Indian country is a mess. The accretion of common law precedents and the general tendency of states to assert primacy over the taxation of non-Indians create absurd outcomes. This article makes the case three ways. The argument based on the law shows that particularized, fact-specific precedents create a thicket of rulings that impede business development. The argument based on facts shows that these impediments to economic development harm not only tribal economies, but state and local economies, too. And the argument based on just claims testifies to the fact that the current arrangement could hardly have emerged from the actions of willing and informed governments operating in good faith. To borrow from Adam Smith, states beggar their Indian neighbors, seeking fiscal gain to the tribes’ detriment and, ultimately, their own. We conclude by recommending actions to bring fairness and certainty to the law governing taxation in Indian country.