National Indian Gaming Commission visits Rapid City. Commissioner Dan Little, Chairwoman Tracie Stevens, Vice-Chairwoman Steffani Cochran, and Counselor to Chair Lael Echo Hawk.
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA — National Indian Gaming Commissioners traveled around the country seeking input from gaming tribes on how make casino regulations more “tribal friendly.” President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order in January which mandated that all government agencies update their regulatory systems to ensure that more balanced and more efficient regulations are adopted through public participation. “Our regulatory system must protect public health, welfare, safety, and our environment while promoting economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation. It must be based on the best available science. It must allow for public participation and an open exchange of ideas. It must promote predictability and reduce uncertainty. It must identify and use the best, most innovative and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. It must take into account benefits and costs, both quantitative and qualitative. It must ensure that regulations are accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand. It must measure and seek to improve, the actual results of regulatory requirements,” the Executive Order states. NIGC Chairwoman Tracie Stevens, Vice-Chairwoman Steffani Cochran, Commissioner Dan Little and Counselor to Chair Lael Echo Hawk were at the Best Western Ramkota in Rapid City last week to do just that. They met with gaming commissions from Great Plains Tribes to get input on how to make gaming regulations a bit more “user friendly.” “We like to think that we are ahead of the curve. We started this in November,” Echo Hawk said and that consultations with tribes are to get input on how to “streamline regulations, update technology and eliminate duplicative processes to become more efficient.” As the newly appointed NIGC Chairwoman, Stevens has the advantage of taking a fresh look at old regulations and “thinking outside the box.” “As a new administration we have the prerogative to look back at existing regulations and policies and set a new agenda. All of us having been on the tribal side realize that there have been some regulations that have been implemented or are in some draft form that need to be addressed,” Stevens said. The commission, in abiding with the Presidents Executive Order, is working to interpret what their statutory authorities are and are not in implementing the Regulatory Flexibility Act. “Tribes are the primary regulators, these regulations that we issue should be user friendly, they should be implemented by the tribes and they should be effective in reducing risks, safeguarding the industry, making sure they are able to be used to meet their objective,” Stevens said. “If we are putting out regulations or if there are regulations out there that aren’t doing that and don’t work to that end, then we need to address them.” However gaming regulations across the industry are not always “one size fits all” and the commissioners are working to produce a “mechanism” that can be adjusted to meet each tribal casino’s unique set of circumstances. “One size does not fit all,” Little said. “I think part of it is finding the common thread. If we are going to have a regulation to encourage a behavior on the tribal side it has to come from a common thread. It may not be possible. The reality is we are a federal agency and we are dealing regional areas, we are dealing with 233 tribes. We still may have certain areas where it is still going to be difficult for all tribes to comply,” Cochran said. Stevens reiterated the reason they are visiting with tribes across the country is to find out what that common thread is and what the differences are. “Really what it is going to come down to is creating a mechanism that is flexible enough that tribes in different areas with different needs, according to their compacts for specific regulations or standards, that there are options for them to comply according to what their needs are,” Stevens said and that the trick is going to be creating a mechanism that works for everyone. “That’s what this process is all about. Asking tribes that very question; ‘How do we deal with those differences?’ Maybe we can’t deal with them in one regulation but we have an opportunity to be very innovative,” Echo Hawk said because the Obama Administration is all about thinking outside the box and coming up with different solutions that will work for everyone. “So that is what we are asking tribes. We don’t have the answers if we had the answers we would have done something already. We would have given it to them.” She continued, “The whole point of the commission coming out to the different regions is to say, ‘We’re here, we’re listening, please help us come up with a solution even if it means different sizes for different regions to solve similar problems.’” Little said one of the goals of the process is to develop a “road map” that will help move the process forward which may involve the creation of tribal advisory committees who will help prioritize which regulations need attention. Tribes voice concerns over gaming compacts
One of the “common threads” voiced by Great Plains region gaming commissioners during the consultation meeting was the issue of gaming compacts. The South Dakota Governor’s office has refused to negotiate compacts that allow tribes to operate more than 250 machines each. “When it comes to an issue between the state and the tribes especially when it comes to compact issues, we don’t have a role,” Stevens said. “This commission has to be very mindful of what our authorities are and what they are not.” She said NIGC’s authorities are limited to enforcement of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, “We are the civil regulatory authority that implements the Act with regard to enforcement. The authorities are divided between the Chair of the Commission and the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior’s prerogative is putting land into trust, approving compacts, negotiating secretarial procedures, approving revenue and allocation plans.” Another common thread heard throughout the consultation meeting was the issue of Class II regulations vs. Class III regulations. Tribes complained that the process for regulating Class II machines is as cumbersome as for Class III machines, although they aren’t regulated. Buy Indian Act
The premise for Congress’ approval of IGRA was to foster tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments. In keeping with that theme, the commissioner’s said that, they, as an organization, had made a commitment to “Buy Indian” although it is not mandated. They said that it is not a regulation of IGRA to give preference to Indian businesses when tribes buy services or goods for their casino operations. However one of the regulations under review is the “Buy Indian Act” that would require the Gaming Tribes to give Indian preference to qualified Indian owned businesses when purchasing goods or services as defined by the “Buy Indian Act.” Interestingly enough the commission met at Indian run casinos all across the nation except South Dakota, where seven of the poorest counties in nation are on Indian reservations. The commissioners conducted consultations in eight different regions in their quest for input on how to make Indian gaming regulations more “tribal friendly.” They visited California, Washington, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Washington, DC and South Dakota, and then were off to Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida for their last consultation meeting. (Contact Ernestine Chasing Hawk at managingeditor@nsweekly.com)