The Wyoming Legislature’s Select Committee on Tribal Relations will meet Thursday and Friday, Nov. 16-17, in Classroom 7 of the Frank B. Wise Business Center, 3 Ethete Road in Fort Washakie.
The agenda for Thursday includes an update on inter-Tribal developments and efforts, including a wild horse and burro management report.
The committee will also receive updates on cold case investigations and consider a bill draft “establishing a pilot program for forensic genetic genealogical DNA analyses and searches.”
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., is scheduled to make a video presentation Thursday, and the committee will hear an update on the work of the legislature’s Indian Child Welfare Act Task Force.
The ICWA Task Force forwarded two bill drafts to the Select Committee for consideration this week, related to juvenile delinquency and Safe Haven laws.
On Thursday afternoon, the committee will take a tour of K-12 schools on the Wind River Reservation.
Friday
The agenda for Friday includes a discussion on Tribal charter schools – with presentations from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Arapaho Charter High School, and the Kwiyagat Community Academy – as well as a conversation about college tuition for Native Americans and an update on Wind River Reservation schools.
The committee will also discuss sales tax distribution and consider two bill drafts – one “providing an exemption for remote sales and purchases” on the reservation, and another “providing for distribution of sales and use taxes for remote sales and purchases” on the reservation.
This week’s meeting is open to the public for in-person attendance and will be streamed live on the legislature’s YouTube channel.
There will be opportunity for public comment during the meeting, but the meeting description says a limited number of participants can sign up to provide public comment virtually for specified agenda items.
“Please fill out the public comment form to ensure the committee knows you intend to provide public comment virtually,” the meeting description states. “Only those that fill out the form to provide public comments virtually and who are e-mailed the Zoom invite from the Legislative Service Office will be permitted into the Zoom meeting to testify.”
For more information, or to request special accommodations to attend the meeting, call the LSO at (307) 777-7881.
Local legislators on the committee include Wyoming Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, Wyoming Rep. Ember Oakley, R-Riverton, and Wyoming Rep. Sarah Penn, R-Riverton.