Column: Mark Sanford fights Catawba Nation on casino rights

In 1840 the State of South Carolina stole 144,000 acres of land that had been reserved to the Catawba Indian Tribe by the British Crown in 1760. Litigation which commenced in 1980 resulted in a settlement among the state, the tribe and the federal government nearly 20 years later.

As a part of that settlement the tribe gave up the right to have casino gambling under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in exchange for the right to have two high stakes bingo operations in the state.

The plan worked to the benefit of the tribe and the state initially, but then the General Assembly passed legislation to improve the competitive position of charity bingo halls. More devastating to the tribe’s bingo revenue was the state becoming a gaming competitor with the lottery. Once the lottery was in place tribal bingo revenue diminished to the point that it was no longer feasible to operate a bingo hall.

Rep. John Spratt and Sen. Fritz Hollings worked with tribal leaders and political leaders in Orangeburg County and the Town of Santee to devise a plan to relocate the tribe’s bingo hall in Rock Hill to an unused shopping near the intersection of I-26 and I-95. This new bingo hall would feature electronic bingo and would resemble a casino in its design. The hall would not, however, be a casino and would not offer any games but bingo.

Mark Sanford was governor, but he couldn’t stop the legislation within the South Carolina delegation so he called on a friend from his days in Congress, now a member of the Senate, to put a “hold” on the bill to keep it from being considered.

Mark Sanford told representatives of the tribe that he was opposed to the bingo hall on moral grounds.

The senator that Mark Sanford called on to kill the bill was John Ensign of Nevada.