The state budget director said lawmakers are still negotiating with Indian tribes as New York works to implement a long-delayed plan to crack down on tribal sales of cigarettes to non-Native Americans.

The move comes as the state plans a $1.60 per pack hike in the state's cigarette tax, making it the highest in the nation.

The plan includes a big increase in the tax on chewing tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products.

Indian nations across the state are upset about the state crackdown on tobacco taxes.

There is no mistaking the position of J.C. Seneca, who owns Native Pride, where he sells cigarettes and other tobacco products on the Seneca Nation reservation.

“We have treaties that have guaranteed us tax immunity, and, certainly, they need to uphold those treaties; they need to recognize and honor our sovereignty and leave us alone,” said J.C. Seneca, Seneca tribal councilor.

The governor is proposing a bill that would allow the state to collect taxes on cigarettes sold to non-Indians on reservations. It could be passed into law Monday. J.C. said the Seneca Nation tried the diplomatic route in Albany.

“They've chosen a different path. They've chosen a path of controversy and confrontation. We've put our hand out to work with the government and they've turned us away, and so now they've taken this route. They want to go down this path. It's their choice and what happens from this is on their hands and on their shoulders,” said Seneca.

Customers at Native Pride, not surprisingly, support the Senecas.

“They have no right to tax the Indians, whatsoever, or people who decide to come here. It's not their place and they tax us enough back home,” said Wade Woodard, Native Pride customer.

J.C. said the actions of the governor in the last week alone have set tribal relations with the state back two decades.

He remembers how attempts to tax the Seneca Nation led to confrontation in 1992 and 1997. It's something he doesn't want to see again, but is steadfast about defending the Seneca Nation's sovereign rights.

“These are dollars that are never going to be collected. We're never going to be a tax collector for New York State. They have no authority to collect any type of tax from within our territories, and that's the bottom line.