Legislature rejects state recognition process following request of Wabanki Nations
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Senators listen to remarks on May 7, 2025. (By Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
The Legislature on Tuesday rejected two bills related to the state recognition of tribes, a longstanding effort that Wabanki leaders argue would have undermined their continued push for the sovereignty afforded to other federally recognized tribes.
The Wabanaki Nations — the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi'kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation — have federal recognition, which, in theory, gives them the right to self-govern and makes them entitled to certain benefits and federal protections.
However, the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act has left the Wabanaki Nations with footing more akin to municipalities than independent nations. Overhauling that act is the fight for sovereignty Wabanki leaders and a growing number of bipartisan lawmakers have been pushing for years, though so far have only seen success with piecemeal change.
The Wabanaki Nations do not have state recognition, though that's not as abnormal. Some states have adopted state recognition processes, affording non-federally recognized tribes a path to official acknowledgement but in a way that doesn't afford the same sovereignty or access to resources.
That's the type of process Rep. Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan) tried to establish in Maine, though lawmakers rejected it, arguing the state recognition process would subvert the federal process, which is also comparatively a more rigorous one.
Poirier's bill, LD 813, would have established a commission appointed by the governor to review applications for state recognition. The House voted 82-57 against this measure on Tuesday and the Senate rejected it without a roll call vote or discussion on Wednesday.
On the floor on Tuesday, Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn) pointed to what's happened with Vermont's state recognition process as a reason for Maine to not establish its own.
After a Canadian tribe asserted groups afforded state recognition by Vermont are not Indigenous and are instead appropriating their identity and culture, Vermont is now considering a task force to reconsider past tribal recognition decisions by the state.
Poirier has said she'd hoped LD 813 would be unnecessary because of another bill she proposed, LD 812, which sought to provide state recognition for a group called the Kineo St. John Tribe. That measure would afford such recognition without the processes detailed by the former bill.
The House rejected the bill without a roll call vote on Tuesday and the Senate followed suit on Wednesday.
This group, formerly under the name the Kineo Band of Malecite, another spelling for Maliseet, has pushed for this recognition for more than a decade but legislative attempts have so far failed.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill could cost Canadians billions
A small, obscure section buried in U.S. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act could cost Canadians and Canadian companies billions of dollars, CBC News has learned. Moreover, it could hand Prime Minister Mark Carney's government yet another political hot potato from south of the border — forcing it to choose between scrapping Canada's digital services tax (DST) or risk the U.S. imposing a new withholding tax on the income Canadians, Canadian companies and pension plans receive from investments in U.S. securities. While it still has steps to go before becoming law, the provision has Canadian experts worried. "This is building a nuclear option into a tax treaty that has lasted for 80 years between Canada and the U.S," said David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "Just like the U.S. is totally willing to blow up the international trade order, they're totally willing to blow up international tax rules." The concern centres on Section 899 of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill — more than 1,000 pages of proposed legislation that Trump says will make good on his domestic campaign promises, including tax cuts for Americans. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 22 by one vote and now has to be approved by the Senate. Section 899, entitled Enforcement of Remedies Against Unfair Foreign Taxes, would increase withholding taxes for non-resident individuals and companies from countries that the U.S. believes have imposed discriminatory or unfair taxes. Experts believe Canada is likely to be one of the countries targeted by the measure because of U.S. government criticism of the DST. The tax applies to all large businesses, foreign and domestic, that earn revenues from certain online business models in Canada. Global minimum tax measures adopted by Canada could also put it in the Trump administration's crosshairs. The timeline for the legislation is in flux and Section 899 could still get dropped from the bill or be amended. If, however, Section 899 becomes law, it could hit Canadians in different ways. For example, the U.S. currently imposes a 15 per cent withholding tax on dividends Canadians receive from U.S. companies. Under tax treaties, however, an equivalent tax credit from the Canadian government generally offsets the withholding tax. If the measure becomes law and the Trump administration designates Canada as a country with discriminatory taxes, a new five per cent withholding tax would go into effect. That tax would increase by five percentage points per year to a maximum of 20 per cent. It is not known if Canada would adjust its tax credits to offset such a tax. Max Reed, a cross-border tax lawyer with Polaris Tax Counsel, said the potential impact could be wide ranging. "It's definitely going to be in the billions, maybe tens of billions," he said. Kim Moody, founder of Moodys Private Client and Moodys Tax, agrees. "Billions, absolutely billions, for sure, would be the impact," he said. "If Canada and the United States allows this to take hold, the result will be chaos. Absolute chaos." Experts say it is not clear exactly how the tax would be applied. For example, would the new withholding tax be imposed on top of existing withholding taxes? Would it also apply to securities held within registered accounts such as RRSPs or only to dividends from shares held directly by Canadians?Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne's office declined an interview request from CBC News. "Analysis of the implications of the U.S. tax reform bill is ongoing and we await the final version of the bill," wrote spokeswoman Audrey Milette. The U.S. embassy also declined to comment on Section 899 or how it would work. "We are unable to comment at this time as the legislation is still pending final approval," responded an embassy official. U.S. Internal Revenue Service figures show that in 2022, the U.S. withheld $2.9 billion US in tax on $108.5 billion US worth of income from a variety of U.S. sources for Canadian residents and companies. The IRS said $261.4 million US was withheld from individual Canadian residents while $1.22 billion was withheld from companies and $1.24 billion US under the category of Canadian "withholding rate pools (general)." Of the sources of U.S. income received by Canadians, the IRS said $31 billion US was from dividends — half of which went to Canadian corporations. David Pierce, vice-president of government relations for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber began getting worried messages from Canadian businesses once Trump's tax reform bill passed the House of Representatives. "I think the attention and the awareness of it really grew from what was a small subset of companies, now right across the economy — from financial to pensions to, you name it," Pierce said. "They're all very concerned at what this means for average Canadians in your retirement savings and how this would be applied should, of course, it become law." Pierce said the potential cost of Section 899 far outweighs revenue the Canadian government collects from the DST, a tax his group has opposed from the outset. He said the Canadian government should pause the next DST payment scheduled for June 30 and consider getting rid of the tax in negotiations with the U.S. "The concern is that when the U.S. administration makes allegations of Canada's trade practices, they can cite the DST and that's a talking point that rings true not just for Republicans, but also Democrats, in the United States," said Pierce. "That strengthens their hand. It's not strengthening our hand at the bargaining table." Macdonald says the proposed withholding tax would hit hard. "It would have major impacts on Canadian companies, Canadian investors in the U.S — they'd be downright punitive," said Macdonald. "That would probably end up shutting down Canadian businesses in the U.S. and kicking Canadian investors out of the U.S." And the DST isn't the only Canadian tax the U.S. could consider unfair now, or in the future, said Macdonald. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of threats against Canadian corporate taxation that attempts to level the playing field between American transnationals and Canadian domestic companies that are paying corporate income taxes," he said. Macdonald said the proposed tax could also hit Canadians who don't have direct investments in U.S. securities. "This isn't only for folks with an RRSP," Macdonald said. "I mean, this could extend to the Canada Pension Plan, which is the major means by which people retire in Canada. They could potentially pay dramatically more." The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board declined to comment.
Miami Herald
43 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Cuba's deepening crisis: blackouts, tourism crash, exodus. Will Cubans rise up?
Amid President Trump's threats to start a global trade war, invade Greenland, seize control of the Panama Canal and annex Canada, this story has gone virtually unnoticed: Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades — maybe since the 1959 revolution. Before we get into whether we're likely to see any massive street protests like the ones that shook the island in 2021, let's look at the disastrous situation Cubans are facing today. Recent months have seen Cuba virtually paralyzed by blackouts. By the regime's own admission, power outages averaged 18 hours a day in May. 'We are going through a critical situation,' Cuba's dictator, Miguel Diaz-Canel, conceded in his May 29 podcast. The Cuban economy 'is hurting, diminished, almost paralyzed,' he added, according to the EFE news agency. This rare admission confirmed what Cubans have been saying for years — especially since blackouts started worsening late last year. The regime blames everything, as usual, on the U.S. trade embargo, claiming Washington's sanctions block Cuba from earning the hard currency it needs to buy foreign oil. But experts dismiss this as a tired excuse because Cuba can trade with every country except the U.S. The real culprits: decades of neglected electricity infrastructure, lack of investments in alternative energies and dwindling oil shipments from Venezuela and Russia. 'There's an average of 18-hour-a-day blackouts,' said Alfredo Lopez, head of Cuba's state-run Electric Union company, in the same May 29 podcast. He blamed 66% of the power outages on fuel shortages. Tourism, a major source of the island's income, is collapsing. Many Canadian, European and Latin American tourists are choosing other Caribbean destinations. Who wants to vacation where the lights go out at night? According to the latest figures from Cuba's National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), foreign tourism plunged nearly 30% in the first three months of this year. This comes on top of a previous decline in the number of foreign visitors. Last year, foreign arrivals had already fallen to 2.2 million, down from 4.7 million in 2018. The pandemic, the 2021 anti-government protests and now the blackouts are crippling Cuba's once thriving tourism sector. Sugar production, once one of Cuba's economic pillars, is in crisis: Cuba is now importing sugar. The Reuters news agency reports that the state-run Azcuba sugar company may produce just 165,000 tons this year, down from 8 million in the 1980s. Rum, a top export, is threatened by sugar and alcohol shortages. 'Lack of sugar throws Cuba's rum industry into crisis,' read a May 30 headline in the British daily The Guardian. In recent conversations with foreign diplomats and Cubans living on the island, I asked them whether they expect new protests this summer. Most anti-government demonstrations in recent years happened in summer, when people are most angry over the power outages that keep them from using their fans or — if they are lucky — air conditioners. Most of the people I talked to said they would not bet on new mass protests, in part because of the regime's brutal repression after the 2021 street demonstrations. At least 700 peaceful protesters were arrested, and many got up to 30-year prison sentences. But the bigger obstacle to a new eruption of anti-government rallies may be that Cuba has become an island of old people, several Cuba residents told me. Mass emigration since 2021 has drained the island of young people — the ones most likely to protest. Indeed, official data show that more than 1 million Cubans — 10% of the population — have left since 2020. Most were young. Because of emigration and low birth rates, Cuba now has Latin America's oldest population, Cuban economist Pedro Monreal wrote on his X social media account recently. To be sure, the latest mass exodus of Cubans has given the regime a reprieve by removing potential protesters. But if the current crisis continues, I wonder whether it will be enough to prevent a new wave of social unrest. Many economists agree that the current economic situation is worse than the 1990s 'special period' that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. And President Trump's anti-immigration crusade, including his June 4 partial travel ban on people from 12 countries, including Cuba, will close Cuba's emigration escape valve. To make things worse for Cuba's dictatorship, Diaz-Canel is a colorless bureaucrat with zero charisma, and the country's ultimate behind-the-scenes-ruler, Raúl Castro, is 93. It's unclear for how long Cuba's ruling elite will hold together once Castro dies. So don't be surprised if Cuba is back soon in the headlines. Barring a sudden increase in foreign aid — say, if Russia decides to ramp up its oil shipments to Cuba in response to escalating tensions with the United States over Ukraine — Cuba's crisis could bring about unprecedented challenges to its decrepit regime. Don't miss the 'Oppenheimer Presenta' TV show on Sundays at 9 pm E.T. on CNN en Español. Blog:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
St. Paul weighs consolidating some downtown offices at Osborn 370 building
The city of St. Paul plans to lease more than 10,000 square feet within the Osborn 370 building on Wabasha Street, covering the building's entire ninth floor, for eight years. What will that square footage be used for? Therein lies the question. The lease at 9 Fifth St. E., approved Wednesday by the St. Paul City Council, allows for flexible move-in dates and below-market rates, with the first 12 months rent-free. That gives the city some time to complete a 'space use' study with the help of real estate consultants, who will attempt to determine which city offices will make best use of the new floor and in what manner. It might become collaborative work space for the city to engage with private sector partners, or it may support departments with space shortages, such as the city attorney's office. It also may be used as upgraded space for staff committed to working downtown more than three days per week, said Bruce Engelbrekt, the city's real estate manager, addressing the city council on Wednesday. With many office staff on a hybrid work schedule, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter floated the idea last year of clearing out the downtown City Hall Annex building on Fourth Street and converting the property into residences, which remains a possibility. 'We're trying to think strategically about how to use our purchasing power and people power to help be part of the solution,' said Council President Rebecca Noecker. City offices are largely but not exclusively spread throughout the City Hall/Ramsey County Courthouse building at 15 West Kellogg Blvd. and the annex building directly across the street. The city's Department of Safety and Inspections works out of a building on Jackson Street, which is owned by Madison Equities, an embattled downtown property owner that has recently lost control of some of its buildings to foreclosure and receivership. The study likely will at least touch on library staff based at the downtown George Latimer Central Library. 'We have a question into (the consultants) whether the mayor's office and the city council offices should be part of the study, because of your need to be located in this building,' Engelbrekt said. 'We need to specifically look at those (offices) that have some space needs.' Council Member Cheniqua Johnson noted Osborn 370 has developed a positive reputation downtown, drawing notable tenants such as the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation. The Osborn 370 floor is partially furnished, allowing 'minimal up-front investment to move and establish operations,' according to the council resolution approved Wednesday. St. Paul's Maxfield Elementary breaks ground on 'community schoolyard' Ex-teacher of Hmong College Prep Academy in St. Paul sentenced for criminal sexual conduct with student Four candidates file for Ward 4 seat on the St. Paul City Council Canadian wildfire smoke causes 'very unhealthy' conditions in American Midwest and reaches Europe 40 St. Paul street lights stripped of copper wiring, though reports are down overall
