Live at G2e: Day 3

Thursday, October 7, 2004

Outlook Not So Good
Remember when we told you how Aurene Martin, former queen of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, warned of a hot political season for Indian gaming? Something which Mark Van Norman, executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association, promptly dismissed.

Well it might turn out that Martin, who has since landed a job with the Holland and Knight law firm, was actually right, and that Mark Van Norman was wrong. [Act surprised.]

That's the message fellow lawyer Tom Susman, a partner at Ropes and Gray, brought to G2E. He was originally supposed to only talk about implications of the Patriot Act II and its maritime provisions [do riverboat casinos need their own swiftboat protection?] but veered off course.

Instead, he immediately felt compelled to tell the audience what a negative perception Indian gaming has in Washington due to the Jack Abramoff/Michael Scanlon scandal that resulted in a hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs -- not to mention a federal investigation, complete with a grand jury!

He recounted the gory details of stories that have been running on the front pages of The Washington Post. [Finally, Indians are talk of the DC cocktail party circuit!] Of course, the audience was shocked, startled and amused. "It doesn't look good on the Hill for Indian gaming," he said.

Who Signed The Checks?
But if things don't look so great for Indian Country, it's not the tribe's fault. So said Deron Marquez, chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians from California. Tribes didn't do anything wrong, he said, Abramoff did. [That's what tribal leaders who willingly shelled out $66 million keep saying to themselves as they hire more lawyers to try and get their money back.]

Despite the controversy, don't look to tribes to stop giving away their money, Marquez indicated. He recalled a discussion with a reporter about political contributions and said that his tribe "would stop giving to legislators outside his jurisdictional area when they stop voting on their [tribal] issues."

The talk reminded us a bit too much of a NIGA-led session at NCAI last year on how to make effective political contributions to political candidates. But we aren't supposed to tell you about that because Mark Van Norman kicked us out and said we couldn't report what was said!

Regulation
Nelson Westrin, vice-chair of the NIGC, hosted the most informative Indian panel we have ever attended. He moderated a discussion with gaming regulators from four tribes -- the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Gila River Indian Community. [Gila River is from Arizona, the other tribes are based in California.]

Westrin asked very focused questions which allowed the audience to understand the similarities and differences between the four tribes' regulatory schemes. The take-away message: these four operations are highly regulated, probably more so than any of the other major gaming jurisdiction in the entire nation.

Of course, these four tribes have facilities near densely populated areas or in urban areas. So they have the money to do regulation of this scale. [Norm DesRosiers of Viejas noted that he has a team of 55 auditors.]

They also have the desire to protect their operations. As one put it, "People are going to take from the casino." So the tribes have numerous systems to prevent that from happening.

NIGC Spills It
Contrary what tribal leaders may have said at other conferences, NIGC is not looking into the disenrollment of tribal members. NIGC chairman Phil Hogen said the agency gets a lot of calls from people who have been disenrolled and from tribes as well.

When those calls come in, Chairman Hogen said that he tells the tribes that it probably isn't such a good idea to kick people off the rolls. He said disenrollment gives a negative perception to Indian gaming, since tribes with large per capita payments are often involved in the disputes.

Commissioner Chuck Choney at the same panel revealed that NIGC and other federal agencies, through the Indian Gaming Working Group, are bracing for a set of federal indictments involving casino crime. He would not elaborate on what is happening but he said it will be big. Expect some indictments to be handed down in about a month!

That should give incentive for more people to attend sessions on the last day of G2E. So tune in later for more moments from Las Vegas!

Indianz.Com is still at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas! And Day 3 was definitely a lot more interesting and a lot more exciting than the previous days, which focused heavily on Class II gaming.

This time around, we heard about lobbyists and the state of Indian gaming in Washington, D.C. And we were enthralled by a well-arranged panel of four tribes who do a very tight job at regulating their casinos. Plus, there was some juicy information courtesy of the National Indian Gaming Commission. [And you thought they lost all their flava when Liz Homer and Teresa Poust left.]

Still, the sessions were noticeably less crowded than the prior days. We guess that means people had a late night out on Tuesday! Find out what your tribal leaders/gaming commissioners/key casino employees missed as we recall our favorite moments at G2E.