Funny Cigarettes

These tax stamps are old (1943)
I stole this image from www.ericjackson.com 

In  today's New Mexican I wrote about two cases of Indian leaders who have gotten into trouble for having businesses that sold cigarettes without the required state tax stamps.

The first case is that of Paul Rainbird, former lieutenant governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo and head of the Southwest Association for Indian Affairs (which sponsors Santa Fe Indian Market) . He was sentenced to prison last week for his Internet smoke business.

The other case is current secretary of the state Indian Affairs Department, Arthur Allison, whose store near Farmington, at least earlier this year, was selling cigarette without tax stamps as well as a brand of cigarettes, Seneca, which isn't on the state list of approved brands.

Attorney General Gary King wrote to Gov. Susana Martinez about this in May (that letter is HERE) but the Associated Press was able to buy the forbidden cigarettes in Allison's store in June.

Martinez's spokesman Scott Darnell said yesterday  that since then, Allison has transferred ownership of the store to his son, who had been running the store for more than a year.

I'd asked the Attorney General's Office about the status of its investigation into Allison's store. Spokesman Phil Sisneros told me this morning. He said the office "is now focusing our efforts on the manufacturers of the cigarettes." They want the Seneca manufacturers to pay escrowmoney that was in question.

Jemez Pueblo Responds to Casino Rejection

The Interior Department today rejected Jemez Pueblo’s proposal to build a casino down in Anthony -- nearly 300 miles away from its tribal lands.

The government cited concerns about the pueblo 's ability to oversee a gaming site so far away. It declined the tribe’s request to acquire the land in trust.

Jemez Pueblo proposed a partnership with Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters to build a $55 million casino and hotel in southern New Mexico near the Texas border.

The Bush administration first shot down the plan in 2008, saying it was too far from the pueblo to generate jobs for the tribe. The Obama Administration reopened consideration of some off-reservation casino applications.

Responding to the rejection, Jemez Pueblo released a statement saying:

“On the very day when the headlines in major newspapers across the country are dismally reporting that job growth in the U.S. economy is at a halt and that the jobs report for the month of August is one of the worst showings in recent history, it is difficult to understand the Department’s decision to deny an application that will create thousands of jobs on such a technical basis.

“In addition to ignoring the need for jobs, the decision also ignores the express terms of the Agreement. The Pueblo expressly reserves the right to provide all the services, thereby, exercising total jurisdiction over the land. The Agreement does exactly what the letter says is lacking.”

The Pueblo is reviewing the rejection letter and “evaluating its options,” the statement said.

Other New Mexico Indian tribes were among those who opposing the Jemez plan. The project also was opposed by the nearby Sunland Park racetrack, which said the proposed Anthony casino would devastate its business.

UPDATE 4:15 pm I just got an email from Scott Scanland, a lobbyist for Sunland Park. Not surprisingly, it says “Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is pleased with the action of the Department of Interior. Clearly Asst. Secretary Echo Hawk read the law, understood the law and made the only decision he could make based on the law.”

Native American Veterans Tax Refund

I have a story in today's New Mexican about the fact that Native Americans from New Mexico who served in the military between 1977 and 2007 may be owed state income tax refunds. This applies only to those who lived on Indian land when they enlisted.

My story is HERE.

Those who think this might apply to them can file for the refund HERE.

It's not really chump change we;re talking about either. In the class action lawsuit that prompted the state to start its refund program the payments to the defendants who qualified ranged between $856 and $7,500.

The state performed a study that showed about 7,000 Native military members in the state had their state taxes improperly withheld during that 30 year period. That study is below.

Native Vet PIT Report