Richards v. Prarie Band Potawatomi Nation
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, a federally-recognized Indian tribe, sued the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Revenue, to avoid a state fuel tax on the grounds that it is preempted by federal law. The Nation built a casino on its reservation, which increased the traffic on the reservation’s roads. To accommodate this increase in traffic, the Nation built a gas station next to the casino. The Nation imposed its own tax on the gas revenues to fund maintenance of the reservation’s roads because Kansas provides no financial assistance for these roadways. Kansas, however, argued that it's state fuel tax should apply to revenues from the gas station.
The district court granted the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, applying the interest-balancing test in White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker. The court found the interests of the Nation and the federal government in promoting tribal economic development, tribal self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments outweigh Kansas’s interest in raising revenues by collecting taxes.
Questions Presented:
1. When a State taxes the receipt of fuel by non-tribal distributors, manufacturers and importers, and such receipt occurs off-reservation, does the
interest-balancing test in White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 U.S. ยง 136 (1980), apply because the fuel is later sold by a tribe to final consumers?
2. Should the Court abandon the White Mountain Apache interest-balancing test in favor of a preemption analysis based on the principle that Indian immunities are dependent upon
congressional intent?
3. Did the court of appeals err in applying the White Mountain Apache interest balancing test by, inter alia, placing dispositive weight on the fact that a tribally-owned gas
station derives income from largely non-tribal patrons of the tribe's nearby casino?
