TRIBE USES VEHICLE REVENUE FOR POLITICAL ACTIVITY
by Ray Carter | June 23, 2023
Even though state-tribal compacts on vehicle registration and car tags ultimately result in millions of dollars being diverted from Oklahoma state government to the control of a small group of tribal government leaders, defenders of the compacts often claim the agreements benefit the state because the money is used for education and transportation.
But Cherokee Nation budget documents obtained by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs indicate that the tribe at least considered, and may have used, vehicle revenue for political activity.
The Cherokee Nation acknowledges that some money generated by its motor-tag compacts with the state of Oklahoma has been used for electoral activity, but the amount of money tribal officials say was spent and the uses made of that money differ dramatically from the amounts and uses outlined in a tribal budget document provided by a whistleblower.
