The Chumash Tribe will become eligible to join the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) as of 1/1 when a new law just signed by Governor Jerry Brown goes into effect allowing tribes to sit on regional government consortiums. Until recently, SBCAG was the exclusive domain of local governmental entities for hammering out regional planning, and distributing about $30 million a year in road construction and repair funding. The new law allows the Chumash to apply for membership, though it remains up to the SBCAG members to decide whether to allow the tribe to join and under what conditions. For example, the Metropolitan Transit District was just allowed to join earlier this year, but only with limited voting rights.
