Lawmakers to discuss changes to consulting process in actions related to Native tribes in North Dakota

Image courtesy of the State of North Dakota

North Dakota House Bill 1455 would task the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission with alerting chairs of Native tribes of any proposed legislation that could impact tribes before the bills pass.

Warwick Democrat Collette Brown, the bill’s main sponsor, said it would be a “moral and legal obligation” to do so. Brown believes that giving tribes an advance notice on these bills would give them more time to prepare testimony and plan trips to the Capitol from reservations, which can be difficult during the winter months.

The bill will soon go to the House with a do-pass recommendation from the committee.