MAINE PUBLIC • December 31, 2021
After years of escalating tensions between Maine state government and tribal nations, a task force released a lengthy plan in early-2020 to overhaul the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act. But despite significant momentum in the Legislature, the overhaul effort fell victim to the pandemic when the Legislature adjourned early and never returned. Tribal leaders say administration after administration has used to treat them like municipalities or wards of the state rather than sovereign nations. The more than 40-page bill would repeal many aspects of the 1980 agreement. It is unclear whether lawmakers will have the appetite – or time – to take on the complex suite of issues during a shorter legislative session, however.