By Joe Morey
News Editor
LCO Tribal Governing Board (TGB) member, Tweed Shuman, traveled this week to the Legislative Exchange in Madison, a meeting between county leaders across the state and members of the Wisconsin State Assembly and State Senate.
In addition to serving on the TGB, Shuman is also the Sawyer County Board Chairman, and in that capacity, he represented both Sawyer County and the LCO Tribe at the meetings.
“While in Madison I was able to meet with Legislative leaders and Governor Tony Evers,” Shuman said. “I invited Evers to meet with myself and Chairman Louis Taylor to address tribal and county issues in northern Wisconsin.”
Shuman said the issues include the use of gaming compact dollars, hemp production, tax issues, treaty rights, education, natural resource protection (Big LCO), law enforcement and stipulations to allow tribes to make changes in their regulatory system in line with the state.
“We want to meet on these things as partners,” Shuman said. “Evers is all about education and resources. He’s very strong on those but he’s going to have a tough time to get his budget passed with a Republican-led state legislature.”
Shuman said in addition to meeting with both democrat and republican state leaders, he was able to meet with the heads of many state agencies which included, but not limited to, DOT Secretary, Craig Thompson, Veteran Affairs Secretary, Mary Kolar, Health Services Secretary, Andrea Palm, and Tourism Secretary, Sara Meaney.
Shuman said many issues were covered at the Legislative Exchange, including an Opioid Litigation update, Wisconsin Counties Association updates and remarks from Governor Evers.