Courtesy of CA Governors office: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the signing of a compact with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, located in Lake County. The compact follows a similar blueprint of the compacts Governor Schwarzenegger has previously negotiated in that it provides important benefits to the state, protects both employees and patrons and provides for environmental protections. “I...

Tribal Economic Development Bonds – Section 1402 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) provides for allocation of $2 billion for tribal economic development bonds.  Tribes are eligible to apply for the first allocation of $1 billion under the ARRA for projects not exceeding $30 million for a broad range of governmental projects to be used in the exercise of any essential governmental...

In Barona v. Yee the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Court of Appeals”) held that federal law does not preempt application of California sales tax on construction materials purchased for a tribal project by a non-Indian subcontractor from non-Indian vendors, but delivered to a tribe’s reservation. If not overturned by the Court of Appeals en banc or reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, this...