State Planning & Community Affairs advances HB43 to update tribal addresses, guarantee tribal representation

The State Planning & Community Affairs committee lifted HB43 from the table and advanced it to the Rules Committee after Representative Lim presented the measure, which she said would update official addresses for state-recognized tribes and ensure each tribe has a representative on the Council on American Indian Concerns. Representative Lim described HB43 as bipartisan and urged the committee to pass it "as is."

Representative Lim said the bill "ensures that the membership from our Council on American Indian concerns will always have representation by at least one member from each of our state recognized tribes" and explained the address updates are "critical to there being properly found." A motion to lift HB43 from the table was made by Representative Campbell and seconded; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally or numerical vote count.

Lim acknowledged ongoing disputes about tribal identity in parts of the state and said the bill is intended to respect the wishes of tribes currently recognized by the state while leaving other recognition matters to a separate process. Committee staff directed Representative Lim to take the bill to the Rules Committee next and provided paperwork for that referral.