Senecas say governor admitted cigarette tax law is flawed
CATTARAUGUS INDIAN RESERVATION — Gov. David A. Paterson believes a law requiring state taxes on Native American tobacco sales is flawed, yet he went ahead and signed it, Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder Sr. said Tuesday.
“ ‘I have to sign this bill. It’s political,’ ” Snyder quoted Paterson telling him during a meeting earlier this month in New York City.
When Snyder pointed out to Paterson that he was the governor and need not sign defective legislation, the Seneca leader said that Paterson explained he was not the elected governor.
But Paterson is now on track to do what Eliot L. Spitzer, whom he replaced, and two other elected governors failed to do — collect state taxes on cigarettes sold by Native American merchants.
“I didn’t have to go to New York City. He could have told me that in a phone call. Honestly, we expected more from this governor,” Snyder said during a news conference here to announce the nation is examining all of its options for resisting the new law.
And while Snyder thinks Paterson, by suggesting the law was flawed, might be sending a subtle message that the nation should attempt to overturn it, the Seneca leader said the issue goes beyond tobacco sales.
“The reality is, it’s not a cigarette issue. This is a treaty issue,” Snyder said in referring to the 1842 Buffalo Creek Treaty, in which the Senecas are protected by the U. S. government “from all taxes.”
“The State of New York lumps everyone together. We’re not New York State Indians. We’re a sovereign nation,” Snyder said.
Paterson declined to say what was discussed at the Dec. 5 meeting with Snyder, though, in a statement late Tuesday, he said that the new law was not the “final word” on the issue.
The governor takes the position that a 1994 U. S. Supreme Court decision gives the state the right to collect the taxes.
“This bill does not affect the ability of Indians to sell cigarettes to other Indians,” Paterson said. “New York State has the right and intends to collect taxes from its own citizens.”
Seneca Nation counsel Robert Odawi Porter said the Senecas do not recognize the court’s 1994 decision.
In a letter of complaint to President Bush, Snyder stated, “I am greatly concerned that Gov. Paterson’s imminent acts of aggression against the Seneca Nation and its people will put people on both sides in harm’s way.”
Snyder recalled how the state in 1992 and 1997 “sent hundreds of armed troopers in riot gear to end our tax-free commerce and to impose a trade embargo.”
Injuries, he said, were suffered on both sides.
Snyder says he does not want the state’s latest tax-collection “scheme” to end in violence. “We don’t condone any type of violence. The safety of my people comes first,” he said, in urging Senecas to work with him and the Tribal Council.
The governor’s proposed budget for next year includes a total of $91 million in additional revenue from tobacco taxes lost to reservation sales.
About 1,000 people are employed in the Senecas’ retail sector of 200 tribally licensed merchants, which posts annual sales totaling $300 million. From that, Snyder said, there is a spinoff of more than $70 million in sales in the overall Western New York economy.
“We know this is going to hurt business,” said Mike General, owner of Mikey’s Smokin’ Cafe.
General said he has 15 employees and pays them $8 to $10 an hour.
The new law, which takes effect in 60 days, requires tobacco wholesalers to certify to cigarette manufacturers and state tax officials that they have not sold untaxed cigarettes under penalty of perjury.
Snyder promised to have a news conference on the “59th day” to outline the nation’s actions. He says he wants to meet again with Paterson.
Paterson, in his statement, said he is willing to meet.
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