The National Indian Gaming Commission has delayed the effective date of Class II regulations by one year.

The Bush administration proposed the Minimum Internal Control Standards for Class II games. Tribes, mainly in Oklahoma, objected to the imposition of more rules that they said would hurt their business.

But with a former Bush official out of the way at the NIGC, the Obama administration put off the rules until October 2010. One Indian gaming leader believes the move paves the way for an entirely new proposal that will benefit tribes.

"I firmly believe that is what they are going to do," David Qualls, the chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, told The Tulsa World.

A notice published in the Federal Register today marks the delay. It was signed by George Skibine, a Bureau of Indian Affairs official whom Obama has appointed as acting chair of the NIGC.

Get the Story:
Indian gambling gets a regulatory break (The Tulsa World 10/8)
Press Release: NIGC Postpones Effective Date of Class II MICS (NIGC 10/7)

Federal Register Notice:
Minimum Internal Control Standards for Class II Gaming (October 9, 2009)