Congress Moves to End Grants for Indian Tribe Smoke Shops

Congress, stepping where the Clinton administration has feared to tread, is moving to prohibit federal grants to Native Americans and other groups for the construction of “smoke shops” that sell cut-rate cigarettes.

An amendment offered Tuesday to the federal budget resolution for the coming fiscal year would force the Department of Housing and Urban Development to stop awarding economic development grants to Native American tribes to build smoke shops. The amendment, authored by Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), is expected to pass the Senate easily.

HUD has given $4.2 million in grants for the construction of such shops on tribal lands in Nevada and Oklahoma since 1997, despite the Clinton administration’s policy of doing everything possible to discourage smoking. The grants are among thousands awarded each year by HUD to foster economic development.

Bond, a conservative Republican, has won support from some unlikely political bedfellows, including liberal Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a passionate anti-smoking advocate, and public health groups, such as the American Lung Assn. In the past, Bond has not taken strong anti-smoking stands.

HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that he would support Bond’s amendment. Cuomo asserted that it was necessary to empower the agency to curtail funding for the smoke shops since it awards the grants based on their ability to create jobs and attract other businesses.

“This legislation will give HUD the ability to refuse funding to tobacco stores in all parts of the United States,” Cuomo said.

Bond sternly criticized HUD’s funding choices and questioned whether the agency had given sufficient scrutiny to the grant applications.

“HUD’s decision to fund smoke shops is at odds with our efforts to reduce teen smoking,” Bond said. “Frankly, I don’t think HUD even knew what it was funding.” He added that his prohibition on the funding is a “common-sense solution.”

Bond is planning to follow up the budget resolution amendment with a companion provision in the annual spending bill that pays for all HUD activities. The budget resolution is not binding, while the spending bill prohibition would be.

Native American officials were upset at Bond’s decision, saying that the government subsidizes cheap cigarettes in other locations--such as those sold at post exchange stores on military bases--and that Native Americans are being singled out. “I think it is unfair of [Bond] to single out Indian tribes for selling discounted tobacco when, for example, military commissaries and post exchanges are engaged in the same practice,” said Bill Anoatubby, the Oklahoma-based governor of the Chickasaw Indian Nation.

The tribal officials also noted that the federal government encourages the tribes to be self-sufficient, and one way for them to do that is to run smoke shops.

Lautenberg--who is promoting a number of broader efforts to regulate tobacco, such as giving the Food and Drug Administration full jurisdiction to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products--welcomed Bond’s amendment.

“I want to thank Sen. Bond for identifying this problem, and I want to thank Secretary Cuomo for moving quickly to embrace this legislation. . . . This is a great example of how we can work in a bipartisan manner.”

Anti-smoking groups also lauded the move. The government money for smoke shops “is totally inconsistent with the administration’s goal of reducing tobacco use among children,” said Matthew Myers, president of the National Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “Whatever the economic benefits of these stores, they are dramatically overwhelmed by the 400,000 Americans who die every year from tobacco-related disease and come from poor communities.”

Studies have shown Native Americans have the highest smoking rate of all ethnic groups in the United States.

Typically, the cigarette stores on Native American property are part of travel plazas on major highways that also house gas stations and convenience stores. The cigarettes are sold at a discount because they are bought in bulk and tax laws differ on Indian lands.