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Committee approves bill to codify representation for three state-recognized tribes on Council of American Indian Concerns
Summary
The State Planning & Community Affairs committee voted to send HB 725 to the next stage. The bill codifies that the Cherokee of Georgia, the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee and the Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe have representation on the Council of American Indian Concerns; committee members said the change formalizes an existing practice and carries no fiscal impact.
Representative Lim introduced House Bill 725 (LC 441717) and said the measure "aims to ensure that our state's three state-recognized American Indian tribes" have representation on the Council of American Indian Concerns, which is administered under the Department of Natural Resources. Lim listed the three tribes as the "Cherokee of Georgia, the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee, and the Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe."
Lim said the bill "is relatively simple" and was intended to codify common practice after disputes arose over who represented those tribes on the council. She said the council has importance for distributing resources that can help communities hit hard by COVID-19 and other inequities.
A participant who identified herself as "a citizen of the Cherokee Nation" asked whether the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee had federal recognition; Lim clarified that "none of these tribes are federally recognized" and that efforts to pursue federal recognition are sometimes contested and politically fraught.
Representative Campbell asked whether the bill carried any fiscal impact. Lim replied that "it does not" and reiterated that the bill "would not really change some of the common practices but the codification serves a purpose to ensure that representation."
Representative Anderson moved a do-pass motion on HB 725; the motion was seconded and the committee approved the bill by voice vote. The committee forwarded HB 725 after the vote.
