Corrected: Major change on adding distant property to tribal lands finds a place in bond bill, had a public hearing.

A dramatic change in the state’s longstanding policy on converting land far from native American reservations to tribal land occupies four consequential lines in the bond package being hurried through the last day of the legislature’s regular session. The change would likely make it easier for the state’s federally recognized tribes to add property anywhere in the state to their domains, placing it under federal jurisdiction.

This profound change in longstanding state policy would have significant impacts on currently unknown towns. The bill has had a public hearing but could not get over the finish line on its own.

The state, as the tribes point out from time to time, must treat the tribal lands as sovereign nations. By adding to their real estate holdings, a piece of Connecticut is gone. This independence came into stark view when the Mohegan Sun hesitated to comply with Governor Ned Lamont’s initial pandemic orders. They raised their status as a sovereign nation at that critical hour.

Republicans, with their affinity for local control, ought to be in an uproar. They would not undermine the primary issue that unites them, would they?

Published June 4, 2025.