Editorial: IGRA shifts too much power to tribes

Monday, September 22, 2008  

"This fall marks a major milestone for the country and Michigan. Twenty years have passed since Congress approved the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

The act codified the conditions under which casinos can be built and operated in states. The effects have been dramatic. Some 420 tribal gaming operations exist in the United States. Nineteen full casinos -- including blackjacks, slot machines and other games -- are run in Michigan.

Nationally, Indian casinos take in about $26 billion a year. That figure had, until last year, been growing at double digits annually. Two Indian casinos are planned near Grand Rapids, one in Allegan County and one in Muskegon County.

The anniversary of this significant piece of legislation should occasion a long-overdue second look from Congress. In the time the law has been in place, serious questions have arisen about how well and consistently tribal casinos are regulated, about the process of federal recognition of tribes and about how tribes put land into trust, on which land casinos can then be built.

The fundamental flaw with IGRA is that it tilts power far too much in the direction of tribes and leaves states almost no control over where casinos are placed, much less whether they open. The result has been frustrating -- and fruitless -- court battles that steamroll past the prerogatives of local communities."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Landmark American Indian gaming law gives too much power to tribes (The Grand Rapids Press 9/21)