Deer leaves Indian gaming post amid changes

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2002

After three years of federal service during which the tribal casino industry grew to a $12.7 billion economic powerhouse, Montie R. Deer is leaving his post as the nation's top Indian gaming regulator.

On August 16, Deer tendered his resignation as chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission to the White House. He plans to leave in early September to join the University of Tulsa Law School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In his resignation letter, Deer, a member of Oklahoma's Creek Nation, responded to some of the criticism he saw during his tenure at the NIGC, which he joined in 1999 for a three-year term. He said he doesn't want to "curtail" tribal gaming because he has seen the positive effects in Indian Country's health, education and infrastructure.

But he pressed President Bush to dedicate more resources to a beleaguered regulatory agency whose powers and duties expanded greatly during the Clinton administration. Citing the 1988 law that authorized state participation in gaming, he said NIGC is funded to handle $100 million in bingo.

Instead, he wrote, Indian gaming revenues now surpass those of Las Vegas Atlantic City combined, and slot machines and related games are now the norm. The NIGC's budget has remained static at around $8 million as it sought to navigate a complex web of state, tribal and federal regulations.

At the same time, the political stakes over gaming increased. Tribes, determined to assert their authority, clashed with states and the NIGC was often left in the middle of the fray, seen as too restrictive by Indian gaming leaders and their allies and too lax by state and Congressional critics.

With Deer leaving his post, the Bush administration will get a unique chance to shape the future of one of the few successful Indian policies, apart from self-determination, according to observers. Former Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover worked alongside Deer during the last years of the Clinton administration and acknowledged the changing climate.

"Clearly, they are more conservative than we were and I thought, quite frankly, we were conservative," he said in an interview last Friday before Deer's resignation became widely known. "They are Republicans after all."

Bush will get a chance to appoint a new chairman while Secretary of Interior Gale Norton will be able to choose the NIGC's commissioners. Liz Homer left in July and Teresa Poust is set to depart soon. Both were Clinton appointees.

Rumors over Deer's replacement have swirled since his term officially expired in April. Phil Hogen, currently a senior attorney within Interior's Office of the Solicitor, and Norm DesRosiers, a tribal gaming commissioner from California, are considered top contenders, according to those familiar with the selection process.

Relevant Links:
National Indian Gaming Commission - http://www.nigc.gov