Legislation | Openings & Closings

Sen. McCain still bothered by failure to block Arizona tribe's casino

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Patrons waited in long lines on December 20, 2015, for the opening of the Desert Diamond Casino – West Valley in Glendale, Arizona. Photo from Facebook

The Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona overcame significant political and legal opposition when it opened a new casino in December and one lawmaker is still perturbed about the situation.

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) is the sponsor of S.152, the Keep the Promise Act. The bill would have blocked the Desert Diamond Casino - West Valley even though the federal courts have repeatedly confirmed the tribe's rights to use its trust lands for gaming.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved the bill at a business meeting last April but it never came up for a vote on the Senate floor. For the first time, McCain publicly blamed Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the vice chairman of the panel, for the measure's demise.

"I still am unhappy that the Senator from Montana blocked legislation that strictly had to do with Arizona, concerning a casino situation," McCain said at a business meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

"I will not do the same to him," McCain added, referring to a water rights bill that Tester is sponsoring and which was approved by the committee at the meeting.

Indianz.Com SoundCloud: Senate Indian Affairs Committee Business Meeting February 3, 2016

Even though McCain blamed Tester for blocking the Keep the Promise Act, there was never a guarantee it would have passed the Senate or would have become law due to its controversial nature. The House version of the bill suffered a humiliating defeat last November when members of that chamber voted against H.R.308. The tribe debuted the casino a month later to huge crowds.

McCain could still try to take action against the tribe but now that the facility is open it will be extremely difficult to justify putting more than 500 people out of work. Closing it also opens the federal government to a potential damages claim that the Congressional Budget Office, the non-partisan analysis agency, estimated could cost at least $1 billion.

And while Congress often includes gaming prohibitions on newly acquired lands, it has never done so retroactively and has never done so against a tribe's wishes.

The Tohono O'odham Nation acquired the gaming site in connection with the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act of 1986, a law that compensated the tribe for a reservation that was flooded by the federal government. The land is located in Glendale, a suburb on the western side of Phoenix.

Committee Notice:
Business Meeting to Consider S. 1125 & S. 1983 (February 3, 2016)