An update from Rep. Schwaderer

The Montana Legislature only meets in session for 90 work days every other year, so our next session will commence in January, 2015. In between those sessions is referred to as “the interim”, and some Representatives and Senators are given appointments during that time to sit on an interim committee.

I have been appointed to the eight-man State Tribal Relations committee, which is the chief liaison between the tribal governments and the state government. Such a committee is quite a unique phenomenon in the 50 states.

During the next 16 months we will meet a total of six times. Last week we met to set our schedule and work plan for the time so that we may be efficient in finding ways to learn and improve policy for our communities.

Our work plan will include visits to the Crow, Flathead and Fort Belknap Indian Reservations as well as visiting the Little Shell tribe. We will incorporate functions of our normal meetings into the trips. We will also be visiting a prison in Shelby, MT and the women’s prison in Billings, MT.

Top issues the committee aims to tackle during the interim are:

- Reviewing the progress of the newly created Montana Indian Language Preservation Pilot Project, aimed at preserving native languages which are currently highly threatened. It will be our task to make sure that every penny of your money is spent efficiently and that results are delivered.

- Reviewing barriers and solutions to access to private capital and lending for tribal communities. Some tribes (including Crow) have started adopting standards similar to the Uniform Commercial Code to address these issues.

- Looking into next steps for creating credit transferability between tribal colleges and Montana Universities.

Our next meeting will not be until October.

Have a Happy and safe fourth of July weekend!