2022 State of the Legislative Branch | Speaker of Assembly Sheldon Boyd
Good morning, Mille Lacs Band members, Madame Chief, members of Band Assembly, commissioners, legislative staff, and all those viewing this livestream of the 38th annual State of the Band Address.
This marks the fourth and final speech of my term as Secretary Treasurer and Speaker of the Assembly that was entrusted to me almost four years ago by Mille Lacs Band members.
These last four years for me have been life-changing, passed all too quickly, and looking back the group of people I’ve had the pleasure of working with have done some incredible things, milestones. And I’ll mention those shortly.
It’s important to remember that in that election four years ago, Band members voted for the Secretary Treasurer.
For students out there, of the five elected positions in Mille Lacs Band government, the Chief Executive and Secretary Treasurer are called At Large which means all Band members vote for these two positions at elections.
The three District Representatives embody the collective membership votes but in three parts.
The strength of the District Representatives is like a bundle of sticks when bound together; in sessions of Band Assembly together their strength is greater than the collective under Mille lacs Band law, making this the most powerful branch of government where lawmaking and the power of the purse, starts with these three.
The only check against this day-to-day authority is the signature of the single most powerful voice in Band government, the Chief Executive.
So that appears to leave the Secretary Treasurer as the odd person out. Not so. No other elected position has broad fiscal authority for the finances of the Band where lawmaking and fiscal authority are tasked to one person acting as Speaker of the Assembly and the Secretary Treasurer.
The Secretary Treasurer does not spend money; that person has the duty to make sure the money is safe.
I am making that distinction for the purposes of this speech, and now allow me to briefly summarize and report to the people the accomplishments of the Speaker of the Assembly, then the Office of the Secretary Treasurer for this term of office.
Speaker of the Assembly: Lawmaking versus Finance
The Speaker of the Assembly is the leader of the Legislative Branch and along with legislative staff facilitates legislation and affixes a signature to documents to verify established processes have been followed.
To quote the late former Solicitor General James Genia, “Lawmaking is a like muscle, if you don’t use it you lose it.”
Lawmaking is one of the cornerstones of our tribal sovereignty and these past four years staff has worked to improve and energize that function of government.
Among these accomplishments has been a series of firsts; some groundbreaking, and some potentially will impact the economic security of the Band, in my opinion, for generations.
But most importantly, these accomplishments have been a group effort and Band members should know that Legislative staff reached out and collaborated with other branches of government and external resources to provide an extraordinary work product during my brief four years in office.
There was reformatting of Band Assembly bill templates for efficiency within sessions of Band Assembly to a wholesale reorganization and digitizing of historical documents.
By Legislative Order draft bills now have a public comment period prior to consideration by Band Assembly where just four years ago only Titles 1 thru 4 required comment further illustrating a more inclusive lawmaking process moving forward.
Figuratively and literally the traffic cop for most of this is the Clerk of the Assembly and Parliamentarian Darcie Big Bear.
These updated processes were given foundation by passing Legislative Order that takes the torch from previous Band Assemblies and continues to solidify the foundations of lawmaking.
As mentioned last year there now is permanent staff within the Legislative Offices for continuity of processes and institutional knowledge.
The Band’s Revisor of Statutes, Hannah Valento, has created a Tribal Register online which is the source record for the official acts of government. The amount of content scanned and uploaded has been enormous and provides an unprecedented look, going back to the 1970s, at the official acts of our tribal government.
Almost all historical legislative documents are now online on the new Tribal Register. This is a huge accomplishment and I urge you all to take a look at the Tribal Register within the Band’s website.
Also there is a first printing of what will be an annual publication, the Official Acts of 2020, that contains ordinances, bills, executive orders, commissioner orders, judicial orders and resolutions of Band Assembly for each fiscal year.
A request for proposal for the printing of the Official Acts of 2021 is underway and the intent is to have these publications available for reference for future government officials and historical record.
The intent is 20 years from now there will be 20 volumes for the next generation to have a concise record to draw historical knowledge from.
Along with the initial printing last year of the Laws of the Mille Lacs Band these publications will be distributed to other governmental, legal, and educational institutions as reference and are available to general public at a cost, but as determined by the Revisor are free of charge to Band members.
Legislative staff and Band Assembly examined the theory behind the two-year Assembly and 2 sessions per year concept, such as this is the First Session of the 20th Assembly. The start of sessions coincides with constitutionally mandated elections and account for a change in power.
Staff has recently published a calendar to further promote the lawmaking process based on the Assembly and Session structure for the coming year.
Now think about that, tiny Mille Lacs began a Legislature 39 years ago.
Live-Streaming: To require the prompt recording of the Band Assembly’s acts and deeds
In the first week of June 2021, the Live-Steaming of Sessions of Band Assembly began by Legislative Order and changes the level of accountability of government to the people.
Four years ago live-streaming was unheard of and was only a concept associated with the ever elusive term "transparency" and one of the goals of my term in office.
The first resolution put before the Band Assembly was voted down. But anything worth pursuing takes perseverance; you have to keep talking, don’t get discouraged, and eventually the idea was accepted and mandated by Legislative Order.
Live-streaming has been a disruptive technology in association with the actual sessions of Mille Lacs Band Assembly in that almost all aspects of sessions have been affected.
There are consistently 100 viewers in attendance, and that has impacted protocol, etiquette, and preparation just to name just a few aspects, because people are now watching and are free to form opinions without influence which has increased transparency and oversight by the people.
Today, the Band Assembly Chambers may be a place of technological standard where meetings are held in person or remote, archived, and live-streamed for online viewing.
But it’s the legislative staff whose intentions are to make this a welcoming place to come and where the lawmaking process has names and faces, personalities and deliberation, and where the breadth of subject matter can be fully realized by those who choose to attend in person, view live, or view archived sessions.
Staff has begun inviting students from Ne Ia Shing School to attend and experience the Band Assembly conducting business, be formally recognized as attendees for historical record, and afterward eat pizza with the members of Band Assembly and Staff.
Live streaming and the eyes of future generations on the Band Assembly put into perspective that we must represent all ages, and our behavior and our words are on display where current leadership is being viewed and assessed by future leaders.
A huge thank you to all legislative staff involved for making what once was an idea and now is a standard of this tribal government.
Lawmaking versus Finance: Investments
I began today by differentiating between lawmaking and finance, Speaker of the Assembly versus Secretary Treasurer.
The Secretary Treasurer managing the finances of the Band takes the form of the Commissioner of Finance and the Office of Management and Budget for government spending.
The management of the treasury, the investments however, has historically been entrusted to outside entities called investment advisors.
One company for 20 plus years for long-term savings and another company for ten plus years for minor trust accounts. These are the two major investment portfolios of the Band.
These business arrangements fall squarely upon the Secretary Treasurer to understand, evaluate, and recommend changes if needed with each term and with each Secretary Treasurer, to superintend and manage.
This is what I didn’t see coming as a new Secretary Treasurer three years ago and quickly became the number one priority to review and understand.
Never be intimidated because you don’t know something. Ask questions. Then listen. As I’ve said repeatedly, it’s not about intelligence; it’s about experience.
You have to find the right competent and honest people to help you, because I quickly found out that the Bands historic investment relationships had serious management structure flaws in relation to the size of the Band’s investment portfolios.
In addition, three years ago the Secretary Treasurer had no statutory framework to properly manage the investment portfolios of the Band.
What came to light was the Mille Lacs Band has needed adequate institutional investment expertise for over 20 years and didn’t have that.
We currently are in a steep learning curve where we find the institutional investment field is specialized and takes years of experience to become proficient in as a career.
When I first took office investment advisors spoke directly to elected officials, offered advice, and took direction.
In other words, the expertise needed to properly manage a large portfolio like the Band’s is similar, in my opinion, to a doctor managing his patients in collaboration with elected officials. Why would investment advisors collaborate for management of investments in the same manner? And I say that being an elected official myself. You do not want a bad doctor taking care of you.
That historic arrangement demanded immediate and substantive change by independent analysis and changes were recommended by the Office of the Secretary Treasurer under the law as mentioned before.
The Mille Lacs Band is not alone — tribes nationally are working toward establishing themselves in the investment field by moving toward adequate investment management in the form of investment committees.
This is my assessment of the past 20 plus years of the management of the treasury of the Band because I was put here by the people and proceed with the people’s best interests in mind.
Please give huge thanks to this Band Assembly, Chief Executive, staff members of both branches of government and external resources for collaborating these past 2 years making possible a new law that creates a framework to properly manage the investments of the Band moving forward, where none existed before.
Title 17 Banks and Banking Chapter 3 The Institutional Investment Committee: Economic Security
I give thanks to the subcommittee who worked to draft this statute over a series of Friday afternoon Zoom calls last year. Instrumental was Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul Minnesota Foundation with 20 plus years of experience in investments, Adam Candler, Mel Towle, Syngen Kanassatega, Pete Nayquonabe, Brianna Boyd.
Now this is half of it. Membership must give thanks to Band government for creating the investment portfolio 20 years ago and saving money over the years.
What is being addressed here is adequate management and accountability of those investments.
The Institutional Investment Committee will provide reports to the Band Assembly and is intended to directly oversee the investment professionals responsible for managing the portfolios.
This law creates processes for managing the costs of investments and having independent performance reviews of those investment where none existed before.
This law holds contracted investment professionals accountable by mandating industry standards and business relationships are reviewed periodically.
And to mention a topic that will interest parents, myself included, this law will improve the cost and management of the minor trust funds for future generations where none existed before.
Legislative staff have advertised to fill the position for a qualified Band member to learn the field of institutional investing and serve on the board as a voting member.
This is just getting started and the investment board has a huge workload ahead.
History needs to recognize Commissioner of Finance Mel Towle whose applied expertise guided the Band in this steep learning curve.
This law is necessary, long overdue, and just plain makes sense.
Now let me try to summarize this before moving on with the business of today.
Our financial journey continues where 30 years of revenue from gaming has made investments possible and directly funds a government that provides a wide range of services and monthly disbursements intended to supplement work income and help families.
Initiating institutional investing creates a financial foundation similar to states and cities, and provides a measure of economic security for future generations. Because we do not want to have to live paycheck to paycheck as the recent closing of the casinos during the pandemic has clearly shown is possible.
The main purpose and duties of the Secretary Treasurer is to provide economic security.
Tribes to day still face attacks on our sovereignty and history in spite of great strides all across Indian country.
Years ago my father Raining Boyd was asked to do the invocation when the Woodlands Bank first opened in Onamia, after which we were riding in the car and he asked if I understood what he said.
“Not all of it Dad.”
He said he told them “They always wanted us to be like them and now they don’t like what they got.”
He was standing in a financial institution, a bank owned by the Mille Lacs Band but knew full well the uphill battle that Anishinabe continue to face.
He was unapologetic in his observation because he and my Mom, like most Native children of their time, were taken from their homes to boarding schools to make them forget their language and culture. That was the only reason because it wasn’t to learn, there were schools here that other children went to.
His generation passed on a language and culture that couldn’t be beat out of them, and in spite of that still realized the need for education.
It must have all came back to him that morning doing the invocation realizing the Band just opened a bank that showed success unheard of in his time.
The memory of that day reminds me that in spite our successes we must always remember where we came from.
Stay humble and be kind.
It’s been an honor to serve the Band as Secretary Treasurer these last four years. No really!
Like any job, learn what you are supposed to do, assess the situation, and work toward getting it done in the time you have.
I believe a good product has been delivered, but mostly it’s about the people I’ve met who are amazing in work ethic, vision, and the ability and willingness to work together. In particular, Adam Candler, I thank you.
It’s those people that make me a better person. Thank you staff of the Office of Management and Budget in particular Katie Radunz, Chris Waite, and Joni Wall, Commissioners, Elected leaders and the people I’ve met during these last four years.
Legislative staff Deanna Sam, Semira Kimpson, Kianna Morrison, Hannah Valento, Joe Jensen, Adam Candler, Darcie Big Bear, Valerie Harrington, and Brianna Boyd.
Miigwech.
