AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills has vetoed a measure to prevent the state from using eminent domain to take land belonging to Native American tribes.
The proposal from House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, would ban the state of Maine from using eminent domain to take trust lands of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Mi’kmaq Nation for public uses. The House and Senate passed it earlier in June, with opposition mostly coming from Faulkingham’s fellow Republicans.
The veto from Mills is the latest case of the Democratic governor not seeing eye to eye with the Wabanaki Nations. Overriding a veto requires the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber. The Democratic-controlled Legislature has not done that since Mills took office. Members will return to Augusta in the coming days to take up the governor’s vetoes.
An amendment the Maine State Chamber of Commerce suggested would make the ban only apply to land under tribal control at the time each tribal government certifies the legislation. It also removes restrictions from the state’s 1980 settlement with tribes that imposed restrictions on the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot when they reinvest money received as compensation for the taking of their lands for public uses under federal law.
In a veto message dated Friday that was posted online Monday, Mills expressed opposition to making a “permanent and irrevocable change to current law.” She also noted the state has not used eminent domain to take tribal lands since the 1980 settlement took effect, calling the legislation a “solution in search of a problem.”
“It would be a mistake to permanently bar future generations from exercising this important but seldom used authority no matter what the needs of society may be many decades into the future,” Mills wrote.
Mills, a Democrat termed out of next year, has opposed during her tenure more sweeping changes to the landmark settlement with the Wabanaki Nations that effectively regulates tribes like Maine cities and towns and signed off instead on narrower pieces of legislation. The governor’s chief lawyer, Jerry Reid, said earlier this year that Mills worried Faulkingham’s proposal could hurt the state’s ability to deal with unpredictable infrastructure needs.
Faulkingham and Wabanaki Alliance Executive Director Maulian Bryant were among supporters who argued the legislation will create protections already afforded to almost all other federally recognized tribes.
Bryant, who is from the Penobscot Nation, testified earlier this year that history “shows the harm of eminent domain on Wabanaki lands.” She cited how Maine took State Route 190, a Washington County highway that cuts through the Passamaquoddy reservation at Sipayik, in 1925 without tribal input.
“This bill ensures fairness, respects sovereignty and prevents future injustices,” Bryant said.
Mills on Friday also vetoed a proposal from Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, that would require the Maine State Housing Authority to acquire or operate two recovery residences that serve people recovering from substance use disorders. She vetoed another measure from Sen. Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth, dealing with a Maine State Ferry Service advisory board, while two of her other vetoes dealt with bills affecting indigent defendants and agricultural workers.
