SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - The Nebraska Legislature is considering a measure that would have a special task force investigate beer sales from Whiteclay businesses to Pine Ridge Reservation residents.
Senator Tom Brewer of Gordon says the four liquor stores provide the poison destroying Pine Ridge in South Dakota.
Brewer says to imagine 4.9 million cans of beer sold every year which equates to 13,000 a day. He says the population of Pine Ridge is a little more than 10,000 residents. That's over one can per day for every man, woman and child on the reservation.
The population of Whiteclay, Nebraska, is 14.
Senator John Lowe Senior of Kearney says ordinarily he would support local business owners operating liquor stores in Whiteclay, but the devastation alcoholism has caused on the reservation must be addressed.
Lowe said "these are people that are in trouble. And I believe it is up to us to make that decision on whether business is more important or people. There's nothing more important in the state of Nebraska than small business, except for our people. So let's think about the people today."
The four liquor stores in Whiteclay paid federal and state excise taxes of over $400,000 in 2010.
If the measure is approved, the bill would create a blue ribbon panel of five Nebraska legislators with non-voting members from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs.