Bill Text: NJ S676 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides State recognition of Sandhill Indian Tribe for certain limited purposes.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S676 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S676-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Provides State recognition of Sandhill Indian Tribe for certain limited purposes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning State recognition of the Sandhill Indian Tribe for certain limited purposes and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The State of New Jersey officially recognizes the Sandhill Indian Tribe of Neptune, New Jersey as an American Indian Tribe for the limited purpose of assisting the tribe in: establishing eligibility for federal education, job training, and housing benefits and federal protection for the sale of artwork; qualifying for public and private grants for which Indian tribes or groups, or members thereof, may be eligible; protecting the ability of the tribe and its members to engage in traditional religious practices and ceremonies; preserving and protecting burial sites and artifacts; and ensuring that handicrafts made by tribal members may be sold as "Indian made."
b. Nothing in this section shall be construed or interpreted as conferring recognition for any purpose except as expressly stated in subsection a. of this section, or as evidence that a tribe has a State compact or State approval for the purposes of the federal "Indian Gaming Regulatory Act," 25 U.S.C. s.2701 et seq. The limited State recognition accorded to the tribe named in subsection a. of this section shall not be construed to affect in any way a tribe or group's case for federal recognition, shall not confer the right upon any tribe, group, or individual to conduct gambling of any kind or to engage in the sale of motor fuels or tobacco, and shall not constitute an acknowledgement of any claim by any tribe, group, or individual to any ancestral, tribal or other public or private lands.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that the State of New Jersey officially recognizes the Sandhill Indian Tribe as an American Indian Tribe for the limited purpose of assisting the tribe in: establishing eligibility for federal education, job training, and housing benefits and federal protection for the sale of artwork; qualifying for public and private grants for which Indian tribes or groups, or members thereof, may be eligible; protecting the ability to engage in traditional religious practices and ceremonies and to preserve and protect burial sites and artifacts; and ensuring that handicrafts made by tribal members may be sold as "Indian made."
Under the bill, its provisions would not be construed as conferring recognition for any other purpose or used as evidence that a tribe has a State compact or State approval for the purposes of the federal "Indian Gaming Regulatory Act," or to engage in the sale of motor fuels or tobacco. The limited State recognition accorded to the tribe would not be construed to affect in any way a tribe or group's case for federal recognition, confer the right upon any tribe, group, or individual to conduct gambling of any kind, or constitute an acknowledgement of any claim by any tribe, group, or individual to any ancestral, tribal or other public or private lands.
