National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernest Stevens Jr. testified about Internet gambling at a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Stevens said tribes are concerned about impacts to the $28 billion Indian gaming industry. He offered six major points that he said lawmakers should consider:• Indian tribes are sovereign governments with a right to operate, regulate, tax, and license Internet gaming, and those rights must not be subordinated to any non-federal authority.Internet wagering is banned by federal law. But in 2006, NIGA advocated for a provision in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to allow Internet gaming if a tribe and state agree to it under a Class III gaming compact. So far, however, no tribes and states have agreed to Internet gambling. Get the Story:
• Internet gaming authorized by Indian tribes must be available to customers in any locale where Internet gaming is not criminally prohibited.
• Consistent with long-held federal law and policy, tribal Internet gaming revenues must not be subject to tax.
• Existing tribal government rights under Tribal-State Compacts and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act must be respected.
• The legislation must not open up the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act for amendments.
• Federal legalization of Internet gaming must provide positive economic benefits for Indian country.