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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE Plan for task force on Whiteclay wins backing Group proposed in bill would tackle health, economic, social problems associated with alcoholism on neighboring reservation

Omaha World-Herald - 2/3/2017

LINCOLN - Even those who want to end beer sales in the notorious border village of Whiteclay said Thursday that cutting off the supply won't solve the problems contributing to alcoholism among Native Americans.

It's why they expressed support for a bill in the Nebraska Legislature that seeks to address the poverty and despair that drive sales of 3.5 million cans of beer annually from four off-sale stores in Whiteclay.

"We have to find a solution that's as big as the problem," said State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, who also is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

He and others testified in support of Legislative Bill 407 during a public hearing Thursday before the Legislature's Executive Board.

The proposed task force would not focus on law enforcement in the remote village of 12 people in northwest Nebraska. Those issues will be left to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, said Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, whose Whiteclay bill has gained seven co-sponsors, including Brewer.

The three-member Liquor Commission has scheduled a March 7 meeting to discuss whether adequate law enforcement exists in Whiteclay to renew the liquor licenses for the four stores. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the State Capitol.

The task force envisioned by Pansing Brooks would work to address other public health, economic and social problems that have long afflicted the Oglala Lakota who live on an officially dry reservation in South Dakota, just across the border from Whiteclay.

The problems include alcoholism rates as high as 80 percent, infant mortality rates three times the national average, teen suicide rates four times as high, and one in four children born with fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes irreversible developmental disabilities.

"All of this while we pour millions of gallons of beer across our border," Pansing Brooks said.

The task force would be led by a 10-member executive committee, which would include state senators and officials from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the state Commission on Indian Affairs, and the Departments of Health and Human Services and Economic Development. Only five of the committee members would have voting power.

A 10-member advisory committee would gather data and research to assist the work of the executive committee. Advisory committee members would include academic experts and professionals in public health, workforce development and other related fields.

The task force would submit a preliminary report to the Legislature by the end of the year and a final report by the end of 2019.

A fiscal analysis put the cost of the bill at about $9,500 per year for two years to cover travel expenses for the committee.

Fernando Wilson, acting director of the Center for Health Policy at UNMC, told lawmakers there is a critical need for detoxification centers and services to combat the high rates of fetal alcohol syndrome. By gathering the best scientific data and recommendations for policymakers to consider, hopefully "high-impact solutions" can be identified and implemented.

"In my opinion, the situation at Whiteclay has become a public health emergency," he said.

Judi Gaiashkibos, director of the Commission on Indian Affairs, said her board members want liquor sales in Whiteclay to end as soon as possible. She stressed that the flood of alcohol problems that stem from Whiteclay often spread to Nebraska, placing greater strain on public budgets for human services, health care, law enforcement and corrections.

"Don't think this is just a problem for Nebraska, for South Dakota or the Oglala Sioux, it's all of our problem," she said. "It's about the hopelessness, it's about the poverty, the lack of opportunities for families and children."

joe.duggan@owh.com, 402-473-9587