What's happening
The bill requires New York's Department of State to establish a process for Indian tribes to apply for state recognition and mandates annual reporting to the legislature.
Why it matters
Establishes a formal, transparent process for Indian tribes to seek state recognition. , which could empower unrecognized tribes to access state resources, legal rights, and cultural protections currently unavailable to them.
Requires clear criteria and a defined timeline for tribal recognition applications. , potentially reducing political influence and uncertainty, and making the process more predictable and equitable for all applicants.
Mandates annual legislative reporting with recommendations and detailed justifications. , increasing governmental accountability and providing the public and policymakers with insight into how recognition decisions are made, which could influence future policy debates about Native rights in New York.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Recognize More Indian Nations
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Recognize Indian Nations Officially
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Ellen C. Jaffee
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7912
IN SENATE
March 2, 2020
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations
AN ACT to amend the Indian law, in relation to requiring the department of state to promulgate rules and regulations providing for the recognition of Indian tribes as Indian Nations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 2 of the Indian law, as added by chapter 174 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
§ 2. New York state Indian nations and tribes. 1. The term "Indian nation or tribe" means one of the following New York state Indian nations or tribes: Cayuga Nation, Oneida Nation of New York, Onondaga Nation, Poospatuck or [Unkechauge] Unkechaug Nation, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, Seneca Nation of Indians, Shinnecock Indian Nation, Tonawanda Band of Seneca and Tuscarora Nation.
2. a. The department of state shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for a process for Indian tribes to apply to be recognized as Indian Nations. Rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this subdivision shall include, but not be limited to, any established criteria necessary for recognizing domestic Indian tribes, the evaluation process by which an Indian tribe can seek to be recognized as an Indian Nation, and the timeline within which the department of state will process such applications.
The department of state shall promulgate all applicable rules and regulations required by this subdivision no later than January first, two thousand twenty-two.
b. The department of state shall issue an annual report and recommendations to the legislature. The annual report shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, a summary of the applications received by the department of state for tribal recognition, the status of each application received by the department of state, recommendations on whether legislation should be enacted to grant state recognition to any such applicant tribe and all material, analysis, law and reasoning used in reaching such recommendation. Annual reports to the legislature shall be issued no later than January thirty-first of each year.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14794-02-0
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the Indian law, in relation to requiring the department of state to promulgate rules and regulations providing for the recogni- tion of Indian tribes as Indian Nations
Purpose or general idea of bill
To require the Department of State to promulgate rules and regulations to create a process providing for State recognition of Indian tribes and to report the status of applications received in an annual report. Furthermore, the bill requires the Department of State to make recommen- dation to the Legislature on whether a tribe should be recognized or not and why based on the process developed.
Justification
Over the past several years, there have been many attempts by Indian nations across the State to be recognized as Indian Nations. These meas- ures have been vetoed with the reason being that the State does not have an administrative process to recognize Indian tribes, this bill seeks to create such process as to allow these Indian Tribes to at last, be recognized by the State as Indian Nations.
Prior legislative history
This is new legislation.
Fiscal implications
None to the State
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.