Source: http://www.klgateshub.com/details/?pub=SCOTUS-Rules-that-Yakama-Treaty-Preempts-Washington-Tax-03-22-2019
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 07:51:54+00:00

Document:
On March 19, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., holding that the right to travel provision of the Yakama’s treaty with the United States prohibits the state of Washington from imposing a fuel import tax on a tribal corporation that transports fuel from Oregon to the Yakama Reservation. Fundamental to the Court’s ruling is that the treaty right to travel includes the right to bring goods to and from market.
The decision is notable for two primary reasons. First, Justice Gorsuch’s concurrence suggests that tribal treaty rights may have found a new advocate in the Supreme Court. While Justice Gorsuch is a conservative justice, his opinion is more in line with the viewpoints traditionally associated with liberal members of the Court, and indicates he may lead the Court to articulate strong tribal treaty rights based on the way tribes understood those rights when they negotiated and signed treaties with the United States. Second, the case could open the door to on-reservation economic growth and development opportunities. The Yakama Nation might, for example, purchase timber or lumber in Oregon or Idaho, then transport those goods on state highways to the Yakama Reservation, and not be subject to certain state taxes. We will continue to monitor developments in this area of law.
Cougar Den is a fuel company owned by a member of the Yakama Nation and incorporated under tribal law. The company buys fuel in Oregon, transports it to the Yakama Reservation via a public highway in the state of Washington, and then sells it to tribal businesses on the reservation.  From March to October 2013, Cougar Den transported more than five million gallons of fuel through Washington to the Yakama Reservation. Cougar Den did not pay taxes on any of that fuel.
The Yakima County Superior Court ruled that the fuel tax violated the tribe’s right to travel guaranteed by the 1855 treaty. Washington sought direct review with the Washington Supreme Court, which also ruled in favor of Cougar Den.  Washington then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted review.
 Brief for Respondent at 2, Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., a Yakama Nation Corp., No. 16-1498 (Sept. 17, 2018).
 Washington also argues that tens of millions of dollars in later assessments are stayed pending the outcome of the case. Brief for Petitioner at 11, Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., a Yakama Nation Corp., No. 16-1498, (Aug. 9, 2018).
 Washington’s current fuel tax statutes are located in Chapter 82.38 RCW.
 Brief for Petitioner at 6, Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., a Yakama Nation Corp., No. 16-1498, (Aug. 9, 2018).
 Treaty with the Yakama Nation, art. III, 12 Stat. 951, 953 (June 9, 1855, ratified Mar. 8, 1859, proclaimed Apr. 18, 1859).
 Cougar Den, Inc. v. Washington State Department of Licensing, 188 Wash. 2d 55, 392 P.3d 1014 (2017).
 Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., ___586 U.S. ___, 2019 WL 1245535, at *2 (Mar. 19, 2019).

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