For over 25 years we’ve had various administrations and various legislatures promulgate regulations. It’s made a lot of lawyers rich and the state hasn’t collected a nickel,” said Syracuse attorney Joseph Heath, who represents the Onondaga Nation.

Non-Indian convenience stores, health-related organizations, state legislators and even major cigarette companies all support the latest effort to collect taxes on Indian cigarette sales to non-Indians. Their arguments include the need to create a “level playing field,” provide financial incentives that discourage smoking and generate much-needed tax revenue.

The Seneca Nation of Indians is leading the campaign against the effort, citing federal treaties that arguably prohibit the collection of state taxes on Indian lands.

“We have our treaties with the United States that guarantee us certain rights. It doesn’t matter whether a treaty was made in 1842 or 1794, or New York state is $8 billion in the hole,” said Seneca, who is a member of the Seneca Nation’s council and the son of a former Seneca Nation president. “It doesn’t say in the treaty ‘until New York state needs money from you.’”

The Seneca Nation alone is already paying the state more than $500 million a year from its gambling operations, Seneca noted. “For them to say we have to pay our fair share — it’s insulting and ridiculous.”

Yet again, Albany will try to break treaties with the Senecas that have been in existence for hundreds of years, in order to shake down the Senecas for taxes on cigarettes. I remember the last time Albany tried it, in the late 1990′s when Pataki, a Republican, was governor. Now we have another governor, David Paterson, a Democrat, trying to break treaties and extort taxes from the Senecas. Party lines make no difference when it comes to the greed and corruption of Albany!

I felt like standing with the Senecas that last time that Albany tried to tax them. At the time, I smoked cigarettes. I’ve since quit, but that doesn’t change my opinion that Albany needs to back off and honor the treaties and leave the Senecas alone. As one of the founders of the Rochester Tea Party Movement, I’d like to float the idea that we stand in solidarity with the Senecas on this issue.

What do you think?