Governor Stitt’s breathtaking ignorance of the issues facing tribes and existing teamwork to resolve those issues reached an absurd level today with his veto of HB 1137. The existing “Ida’s Law,” a bipartisan reflection of the sort of teamwork needed to address missing and murdered indigenous persons cases, is an effective law that enables tribal law enforcement and OSBI to work better together on MMIP cases. HB 1137, a bipartisan amendment to Ida’s law, was a housekeeping measure designed to strip an unnecessary federal funding requirement. Governor Stitt’s veto message, issued on a day we raise awareness across the country on MMIP issues, exposes that he lacks the foggiest idea that Ida’s law is on the books, what it does on a low budget cost high impact basis, or what the simple amendment was designed to do. He also continues to conflate the political status of tribal citizens with “race,” a tired old subject meant to divide and confuse people. Native Americans are disproportionally victims of violent crime and disproportionally so in cases that go unsolved. Serious leaders across the state and the nation understand that and are taking action. Governor Stitt should do more thinking and less thoughtless reacting when the lives of native people are at stake.
Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Principal Chief
