Gillibrand officially opposes BIA report on trust application

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has come out in opposition to a current draft of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs' statement about an application to put local land into federal trust on behalf of the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York.

In a letter to the BIA dated Thursday, Gillibrand asked the bureau to reject its current assessment that placing 130 acres of land owned by the Cayuga Indian Nation in Seneca and Cayuga counties will not have a significant impact on the local environment and economy.

Gillibrand specifically points out in the letter that she believes because the land would be exempt from local sales tax, it would give Indian-owned businesses within the trust area an "unfair competitive advantage" over other local stores. She also stated that taking the land off the tax rolls would hurt local school districts, and making the land exempt from local regulations could pose jurisdictional and environmental problems.