"Gov. Sam Brownback had made a decision to retire some of Kansas’ debt with gambling revenues generated by state-owned casinos. The decision seems to be wise, but there are other governmental needs of the people. Whatever decisions are made on the use of gaming revenue, we are thankful there is gaming revenue available.

While Brownback sees gaming revenue as a way to retire debt, our Kickapoo leadership views gambling as an economic lifeline. During our nearly five-year struggle with the state to gain our sovereign right to establish gambling, we stated the critical economic and quality-of-life perils of our Indian people due to economic poverty existent on our four federally recognized Indian reservations. We said gambling would provide revenue to assist us in our struggle for a better quality of life. We are grateful for our casino gambling success and appreciate the customer satisfaction we have earned."

Get the Story:
Steve Cadue: State casinos hurt tribal interests (The Topeka Capital-Journal 1/20)