Lawmakers in South Carolina have until June 3 to act on the Catawba Nation's gaming proposal or face a lawsuit that state officials say the tribe will win.

The tribe wants to open a high-stakes bingo hall off the reservation. State approval is needed because the tribe's settlement act places it under state gaming laws rather than the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The alternative is a return of video poker. Although poker machines are now outlawed, the ban doesn't apply to the tribe, according to the state attorney general's office. The tribe says it will bring back video poker machines to the reservation if the off-reservation bingo hall isn't approved.

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Catawbas continue push for bingo hall (Knight Ridder News 5/24)