Opinion: A very good time for growing tribal casino industry

Tuesday, April 6, 2010  

"Indian casinos may soon overtake commercial casinos. Total gaming revenues for tribes appear to be more than $26 billion a year, while the American Gaming Association reported the 12 commercial casino states generate less than $31 billion in 2009.

But Indian gaming is getting a boost from changes in the law, or, more particularly, from those who make the laws.

The most dramatic change is the result of the election of President Barack Obama. Even though Republicans have been able to stymie the Democrats’ majorities in Congress, they cannot do much about the Presidents’ power to make appointments.

The first battleground over Indian gaming is often the Department of Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs. George W. Bush appointed Dirk Kempthorne, who was so anti-gaming that he would change the rules when it looked like he would have to approve an expansion. Kempthorne, for example, forbid tribes to acquire new land for gaming that was not within commuting distance of their current location.

Obama’s replaced Kempthorne with Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, a self-proclaimed political moderate. Salazar can reverse this decision, since it was a “Guidance Memorandum,” issued without hearings or public input.

Salazar is also changing the process for recognizing tribes. During the Bush years, 13 of the15 tribes applying for federal recognition were denied in a process that took years. Within months of taking office, Salazar’s Interior recognized the Shinnecocks on Long Island.

Obama also acted quickly to appoint the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a position the Bush Administration left vacant for years. Larry Echo Hawk, a Brigham Young University law professor, opposed Indian gaming when he was Attorney General of Idaho, but he has mended his fences with Idaho’s gaming tribes."

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