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Order Aims At Stopping Seneca Payments To State

Former Seneca Nation Councillor Sue Abrams is filing a temporary restraining order against the Seneca Nation in the nation’s peacemaker’s court to stop the more than $540 million in disputed compact payments to New York state.

Abrams has filed the temporary restraining order on behalf of the Seneca people opposed to making the payments. Abrams and some 300 enrolled Seneca Nation members gathered for two community meetings this week voicing their opposition to President Matt Pagels’ settlement agreement with the state.

“The settlement agreement was not formally approved by Council resolution in either a convened special or regular session of Council, and is an illegal action per Article 22 of the Seneca Nation Constitution,” said Abrams. “Matt Pagels acted unilaterally without the legal consent of a Council authorization, he violated the Seneca Nation Constitution, and acted in defiance of the people.”

Abrams temporary restraining order comes after Pagels announced the agreement with the state earlier this month regarding the compact payments. The exact amount has not yet been revealed, but the amount owed the state stood at around $450 million as of last fall. That funding will be split among the state and the Western New York communities in and near where the tribe operates three casinos.

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