BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 6, 2023
The veto letter Gov. Janet Mills wrote last week opposing a bill that would let Maine’s tribes benefit from more federal laws is six pages long. But underlying it is decades of debate over the relationship between the state and its four federally recognized tribes that make up the Wabanaki Alliance — the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Mi’kmaq and Maliseet. Among the main sticking points: Mills said an amendment to the bill that exempts environmental laws does not achieve its intended aim, and removing nearly 300,000 acres of land held in trust by the tribes and any new lands they acquire in the future from state or local regulation could lead to “federal meddling.”