Rumsey Chair: California tribes regulate casinos

Monday, September 22, 2008  

"The Bee's editorial regarding tribal gaming failed to mention that the standards the California Gambling Control Commission seeks to impose unilaterally on tribes are duplicative, unnecessary and discriminatory.

Ill-considered commentaries like The Bee's leave a clear – though completely erroneous – impression that tribes are avoiding the imposition of minimum internal control standards at our casinos, putting "the public, the state and the tribes themselves" at risk of being "cheated." Nothing could be further from the truth.

After California voters authorized tribal casino gaming, the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians, along with other sovereign tribes, entered into compacts with the state that ensured strict regulatory standards for all aspects of our gaming operations.

The tribe's independent Tribal Gaming Agency has adopted a system of internal controls that sets specific policies and procedures Cache Creek Casino must follow to ensure the integrity of its gaming. The internal controls meet or exceed all applicable federal control standards, which, in turn, meet or exceed those imposed by the regulatory bodies in virtually every gaming jurisdiction, including Las Vegas. The Tribal Gaming Agency strictly applies the internal controls, which includes the power to penalize the casino for violations. Moreover, after a court decision stripped the National Indian Gaming Commission's ability to oversee minimum internal control standards enforcement, we and other gaming tribes enacted tribal laws restoring to the commission the oversight authority it lost."

Get the Story:
Marshall McKay: Tribes already meet standards for casinos (The Sacramento Bee 9/21)
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