Senecas lobby as Paterson weighs cigarette tax

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

August 15, 2008

By MICHAEL GORMLEY The Press Republican Fri Aug 15, 2008, 06:27 AM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Days before the New York Legislature will try to stem growing budget deficits, leaders of the Seneca Nation pressed Gov. David Paterson's office to veto a bill that would require collecting millions of dollars in taxes on cigarettes now sold tax-free by tribes.

Nothing was resolved Thursday, said spokesmen for the tribe and Paterson.

Although Indians may sell goods to other Indians free of sales taxes, most Indian sales are to non-Indians. Tribes argue that treaties dating to the 19th century allow them to avoid state government sales taxes. But state officials going back to the 1980s have argued sales to non-Indians are taxable and the money should be collected.

In the balance hangs at least $400 million in annual revenue. On Tuesday, the Legislature will return to Albany at Paterson's call for an emergency economic session to deal with a proposal by the Democratic governor to cut $600 million in spending to help stave off a $6.4 billion deficit projected for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. New revenue, such as the cigarette tax collection, could head off at least some cuts that are strongly opposed by the powerful public worker unions and the Working Families Party.

"We continue to ask New York state to honor its treaties," said Richard Nephew, chairman of the Seneca Nation's Legislative Council. He said the taxes would cut into sales, which in turn would hurt the tribe's employment of 5,000 people and other economic benefits it spins off in western New York.

"The state still comes out ahead," said Seneca Counsel Robert Odawi Porter. "It just doesn't go into the Albany trough."

The tax bill, passed by the Senate and Assembly, has yet to be sent to Paterson. When it is, and that could happen Tuesday, the governor will have 10 days to sign or veto the measure.

The bill prohibits manufacturers from selling tobacco products without a state tax stamp to any wholesaler that doesn't certify the cigarettes won't be resold tax-free. Untaxed cigarettes could still be sold by Indians to Indians.

"Once it reaches his desk, we'll review it and solicit input from interested parties," said Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield.

The issue may have been complicated on Wednesday. Assemblyman William Magee, a Madison County Democrat, introduced a potentially competing bill. It's billed as a simpler measure, one that would tax all cigarettes, then provide refunds to the tribe for sales to Indians. There is no Senate sponsor yet.

The Indian sales taxes have long been one of Albany's most difficult issues. Tribes held violent protests in 1995 when the state tried collect the tax on sovereign land. Conflict with state police briefly closed the Thruway, leaving some of it scorched by protesters burning tires.