Title 1. Government and Finances - Chapter 109

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LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURES ACT

109.1. Purpose and Policy

109.2. Adoption, Amendment, Repeal

109.3. Definitions

109.4. Legislative Operating Committee

109.5. Legislation Request

109.6. Fiscal Impact Statement

109.7. Legislative Analysis

109.8. Public Review

109.9. Adoption, Amendment or Repeal

109.10. Validity and Statute of Limitations

109.11. Oneida Code of Laws

109.1. Purpose and Policy

109.1-1. Purpose. The purpose of this law is to provide a process for the adoption of Oneida

Tribal laws.

(a) The lawmaking requirements as set forth under this law shall apply to all legislation

considered by the Oneida Business Committee or forwarded for consideration to the

General Tribal Council.

109.1-2. Policy. It is the policy of the Tribe to ensure that there is a standard process for

developing legislation which includes taking into account comments from Tribal members and

input from Tribal agencies.

109.1-3. This law shall not be construed to impede the constitutional right of a Tribal member

under Article III, Section 4 of the Tribal Constitution to petition for a special meeting of the

General Tribal Council upon obtaining the required signatures.

109.2. Adoption, Amendment, Repeal

109.2-1. This law was adopted by the Oneida General Tribal Council by resolution GTC #0107-13-A.

109.2-2. This law may be amended or repealed only by the Oneida General Tribal Council

pursuant to the procedures set out in Tribal law.

109.2-3. Should a provision of this law or the application thereof to any person or circumstances

be held as invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions of this law which are

considered to have legal force without the invalid portions.

109.2-4. In the event of a conflict between a provision of this law and a provision of another

law, the provisions of this law shall control. Provided that, this law repeals the following:

(a) BC-12-21-94-A (Adoption of the Format for Laws)

(b) BC-7-13-05-H (Amendments to the Format for Laws)

109.2-5. This law is adopted under authority of the Constitution of the Oneida Tribe of Indians

of Wisconsin.

109.3. Definitions

109.3-1. This section shall govern the definitions of words and phrases used within this law. All

words not defined herein shall be used in their ordinary and everyday sense.

(a) “Agency” means any Tribal board, committee, commission, department, division or

officer.

(b) “Day(s)” means calendar day(s), unless otherwise specifically stated.

associated with legislation and includes startup costs, personnel, office, documentation

1 O.C. 109 – Page 1

costs, as well as an estimate of the amount of time necessary for an individual or agency

to comply with the law after implementation.

(d) “Manager or Director” means a Tribal Gaming General Manager, Chief Financial

Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, Division Director or similar employee who is a direct

report to the Oneida Business Committee.

(e) “Law” means an adopted Tribal code, act, statute or ordinance.

(f) “Legislation” means a proposed law or proposed amendment to an existing law.

(g) “Legislative analysis” means a plain language analysis describing the important

features of the legislation being considered and factual information to enable the

Legislative Operating Committee to make informed decisions regarding legislation. A

legislative analysis shall include a statement of the legislation’s terms and substance;

intent of the legislation; a description of the subject(s) involved, including any conflicts

with Oneida or other law, key issues, potential impacts of the legislation and policy

considerations; and shall be in a consistent format as determined by the Legislative

Operating Committee.

(h) “Legislative Operating Committee” means the legislative committee comprised of

the five (5) council members of the Oneida Business Committee.

(i) “Legislative Reference Office” means the support office under the direction and

supervision of the Legislative Operating Committee.

(j) “Oneida Code of Laws” means the unified collection of current adopted Tribal laws

considered the official version of Oneida law.

(k) “Oneida Register” means the free legal periodical published on the Tribal website by

the Legislative Operating Committee which contains at a minimum, agency regulations,

proposed legislation and notices, and either the Oneida Code of Laws or directions to

obtain free access to the Oneida Code of Laws.

(l) “Resolution” means the document approved by the Oneida General Tribal Council or

Oneida Business Committee which formally resolves to adopt, amend or repeal a law.

(m) “Tribal” or “Tribe” means the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.

(n) “Tribal website” means the official Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin website

and shall include either the section available to the public at large or member’s only

section.

109.3-2. The titles to sections and subsections of laws are descriptions of the text of a law, are

not part of the law and cannot alter the meaning of the text of a law. Legislative analyses and

resolutions are not part of the law, but may be used to aid in the interpretation of ambiguous text

of a law.

109.4. Legislative Operating Committee

109.4-1. Creation. There is hereby created a legislative committee known as the Legislative

Operating Committee.

109.4-2. Duties. The Legislative Operating Committee shall be responsible for the development

of Tribal law in accordance with this law, other such duties as provided by Tribal law and the

development and maintenance of the Oneida Register.

1 O.C. 109 – Page 2

109.5. Legislation Request

109.5-1. Request for Development of Laws. Any interested person may submit a written request

to the Legislative Reference Office for legislation.

109.5-2. Introduction of Legislation. The Legislative Reference Office shall place the request

for legislation on the agenda of the next duly called Legislative Operating Committee meeting.

The Legislative Operating Committee shall:

(a) Accept the request and direct it be developed in accordance with this law; or

(b) Deny the request in writing to include the reason for denial, except that the

Legislative Operating Committee shall not deny a request for legislation directed by a

General Tribal Council law, resolution or motion.

109.6. Fiscal Impact Statement

109.6-1. A fiscal impact statement shall be required for all legislation, except as exempted in

109.9-5(a). A fiscal impact statement shall be submitted by all agencies as directed by the

Legislative Operating Committee and may be prepared by:

(a) Any agency who:

(1) may receive funding if the legislation is enacted;

(2) may administer a program if the legislation is enacted; or

(3) may have financial information concerning the subject matter of the

legislation.

(b) The Finance Office, upon request of the Legislative Operating Committee.

109.6-2. Legislation may be introduced to the Legislative Operating Committee without a fiscal

impact statement, however a fiscal impact statement shall be completed and submitted to the

Legislative Operating Committee prior to legislation being forwarded to the Oneida Business

Committee under 109.9-1.

109.7. Legislative Analysis

109.7-1. The Legislative Reference Office shall complete and attach a legislative analysis to

legislation prior to the Legislative Operating Committee forwarding the legislation:

(a) for public review in accordance with 109.8; and

(b) to the Oneida Business Committee for consideration in accordance with 109.9-1.

109.8. Public Review

109.8-1. Public Comment Period. The Legislative Operating Committee shall approve and

provide a public comment period prior to forwarding the legislation for consideration in

accordance with 109.9-1.

(a) The public comment period shall remain open for no less than five (5) business days

after the public meeting is held.

(b) A public comment period shall not be required when legislation is being considered

as an emergency in accordance with 109.9-5.

provide interested persons a reasonable opportunity to submit data, views or arguments

on the legislation.

109.8-2. Notice. A notice shall state the name, address, phone number, and other appropriate

information to submit comments on the legislation, as well as the date, time and place of the

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public meeting and the time period in which comments must be received. A minimum of ten

(10) business days before a public meeting is held, the notice, legislation, legislative analysis and

fiscal impact statement, if a fiscal impact statement is available, shall be:

(a) made publicly available in the Oneida Register;

(b) electronically provided to all managers or directors; and

provided that only notice of a public meeting and how to receive the public meeting

documents shall be required to be posted in the Kalihwisaks.

109.8-3. Public Meeting. The Legislative Operating Committee shall hold a public meeting

during the public comment period to solicit oral comments. Nothing in this section shall prohibit

or restrict the holding of any other type of community meeting which may be used to gather

input on legislation.

(a) A public meeting shall be presided over by at least one (1) Legislative Operating

Committee member.

(b) All persons who present oral testimony at a public meeting shall register.

for all oral testimony; any time limit imposed shall not be less than five (5) minutes and

shall be applied to all persons equally.

109.8-4. Comments and Testimony. The Legislative Operating Committee shall consider fully,

all written comments and oral testimony received during the public comment period and any

public meeting on the legislation.

(a) All appropriate managers or directors shall direct comments to be provided during the

comment period or at a public meeting by those Tribal employees who have special

knowledge or expertise on the legislation.

(b) Written comments may be submitted to the Oneida Business Committee Tribal

Secretary or the Legislative Reference Office in person or through U.S. mail, interoffice

mail, e-mail or fax.

109.9. Adoption, Amendment or Repeal

109.9-1. Consideration. The Legislative Operating Committee shall forward the legislation,

legislative analysis and fiscal impact statement to the Oneida Business Committee when

legislation is ready for consideration provided that the public review requirements in 109.8 have

been met. The Oneida Business Committee shall:

(a) consider the legislation; or

(b) forward the legislation to the Oneida General Tribal Council for consideration.

109.9-2. Resolution. A law shall be adopted, amended or repealed upon adoption of a

resolution.

(a) A majority vote is required for the adoption of a law by the Oneida Business

Committee. The Oneida Business Committee shall amend and repeal laws in accordance

with the laws governing Oneida Business Committee action.

(b) The General Tribal Council shall adopt, amend and repeal laws in accordance with

the laws governing General Tribal Council action.

109.9-3. Effective Date. Unless specified otherwise in the adopting resolution or the law, the

effective date of a law, amendment or repeal shall be ten (10) business days after the date of

adoption of the resolution.

1 O.C. 109 – Page 4

109.9-4. Publication. The Legislative Operating Committee shall be responsible for publishing

the law in the Oneida Code of Laws by the effective date. Failure to publish the law by the

required date does not change the effective date of the law.

109.9-5. Emergency Law. The Oneida Business Committee may temporarily enact an

emergency law where legislation is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public

health, safety, or general welfare of the reservation population and the enactment or amendment

of legislation is required sooner than would be possible under this law.

(a) The Legislative Operating Committee shall be responsible for first reviewing

emergency legislation and for forwarding to the Oneida Business Committee for

consideration. A legislative analysis of the legislation shall be completed and attached to

the legislation, however, the fiscal impact statement and public comment period are not

required prior to emergency legislation being considered.

(b) An emergency law shall become effective immediately upon its approval by the

Oneida Business Committee and shall be in effect for a period of up to six (6) months,

with an opportunity for a one-time emergency law extension of up to six (6) months. An

emergency law shall:

(1) expire when six (6) months have passed since the emergency law went into

effect and an emergency law extension has not been approved; or

(2) expire when six (6) months have passed since the emergency law extension

went into effect; or

(3) no longer be in effect when a law is permanently adopted in the emergency

law’s place before the emergency law expires under (1) or (2).

109.10. Validity and Statute of Limitations

109.10-1. Substantial Compliance. Any law hereafter adopted is valid only if adopted in

substantial compliance with this law.

109.10-2. Statute of Limitations. No law can be contested based on non-compliance with the

procedural requirements of this law after one (1) year has elapsed from the effective date of the

law.

109.11. Oneida Code of Laws

109.11-1. All laws published in the Oneida Code of Laws shall be in a consistent format and

contain the following sections:

(a) Section 1 - “Purpose and Policy”. This section shall contain two sections:

(1) The “Purpose” section to direct why the law is needed. The purpose should

indicate governing or directing reasons why it is being implemented.

(2) The “Policy” section to indicate the direction the law is to take, including

impetus or underlying goal of the regulation.

(b) Section 2 – “Adoption, Amendment, Repeal”. This section shall contain sufficient

information to indicate who may adopt and amend, and what, if any, prior actions are

repealed by adoption of this regulation. A repeal may be specific to documents, or

general to subjects. No mention of severability of sections is necessary. All laws of the

Tribe may have the appropriate portions severed and allow the remainder of the law to

continue in effect. The following shall be the wording of Section 2, unless other sections

are necessary to convey needed information on law:

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2-1. This law was adopted by the [Oneida Business Committee or Oneida

General Tribal Council] by resolution __________.

2-2. This law may be amended or repealed by the [Oneida Business Committee

and/or Oneida General Tribal Council] pursuant to the procedures set out in the

Legislative Procedures Act.

2-3. Should a provision of this law or the application thereof to any person or

circumstances be held as invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions

of this law which are considered to have legal force without the invalid portions.

2-4. In the event of a conflict between a provision of this law and a provision of

another law, the provisions of this law shall control. Provided that, this law

repeals the following:

2-5. This law is adopted under authority of the Constitution of the Oneida Tribe

of Indians of Wisconsin.

a technical sense throughout the law. All words not defined within this section, or

defined within any section, are to be used in their ordinary sense. The section wording

shall be as follows:

3-1. This section shall govern the definitions of words and phrases used within this law. All

words not defined herein shall be used in their ordinary and everyday sense.

(d) All other sections within any law shall be in order from general to specific. General

provisions shall be stated first, specific provisions later. Sections shall be broken into

logical areas, and paragraphs within sections shall be used where needed. Lists are by

way of example and are not exclusive unless specifically stated otherwise.

109.11-2. All laws shall be numbered in the following consistent manner “1-1(a)(1)(A)(i)”

where:

(a) “1-1" means the first section.

(b) “(a)” means the first subsection

(d) “(A)” means the third subsection

(e) “(i)” means the fourth subsection.

(f) All other numbering after the fourth subsection shall be in a logical manner.

End.

Adopted - GTC-01-07-13-A

1 O.C. 109 – Page 6

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.