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This Message Is Reprinted Under The Fair Use
Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
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FROM: INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY NEWSPAPER
_http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411300_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411300)
Let the Games Begin
Posted: July 26, 2005 by: _Tom Wanamaker_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=344) / Indian Country Today
NIGC reports another double-digit revenue jump for Indian gaming
Schwarzenegger 'rips off' California localities
Indian gaming reaped $19.4 billion in revenue in 2004. Statistics released
July 13 by the National Indian Gaming Commission, the industry's federal
regulatory agency, revealed a nationwide growth rate of 15.3 percent over total
revenue of $16.8 billion posted in 2003. Tribal casino revenue grew by 13.7
percent from 2002 to 2003.
''The Indian gaming industry continues to grow at a steady pace,'' said NIGC
Chairman Philip C. Hogen in a news release. ''This growth has allowed tribes
to create jobs, continue economic development opportunities, build
much-needed infrastructure within their communities and provide services for their
members.''
At many tribally owned casinos, non-Indians fill a considerable majority of
gaming jobs while tribal payments to vendors, contractors and suppliers
ripple throughout local economies across the country. As the industry brings in
more cash for tribal governments, state treasuries enjoy the benefits of larger
tribal contributions through revenue ''sharing'' payments negotiated into
Class III gaming compacts.
NIGC's Region V, comprising Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, reported the
greatest increase in gaming revenue, a 43.9 percent jump to $1.2 billion in 2004
from $867 million in 2003. Look for this region to post another large gain in
2005; in November 2004, Oklahoma voters approved a referendum that, among other
things, allows Indian casinos in that state to upgrade their Class II
facilities to the more lucrative Class III.
Region II - California and northern Nevada - posted the greatest monetary
increase: a gain of just under $1.1 billion, representing a 23.2 percent boost.
Schwarzenegger terminates special distribution
In September 1999, 61 tribes in California signed Class III gaming compacts
with Sacramento. Each of these good-faith agreements contained provisions
requiring the tribes to pay into a special distribution fund designed to
compensate local governments for off-reservation infrastructure impacts caused by
tribally owned casinos. Such impacts include things like building and upgrading
roads, increased usage of emergency services, treatment programs for
problem gamblers and the like.
Yet current Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (of ''the Indians are ripping us
off'' fame) nixed plans to pay out $20 million of the special distribution monies
earmarked for local governments. According to a news release from the
California Nations Indian Gaming Association, on July 11 Schwarzenegger ''objected
to a budget line item'' and instead ''decided to hold the funds in a reserve
account.''
The North County Times reported that the governor's ''hasty and erroneous
decision'' came about after the state gaming commission mistakenly told him
that ''none'' of the localities involved filed the appropriate paperwork on
time. In fact, the Times said, ''pretty much all of them had'' done so. It seems
that the governor and his gaming overseers need to get on the same page.
CNIGA is ''deeply disappointed that the governor chose to deprive local
governments from the funds they were promised,'' said Anthony Miranda, CNIGA
chairman, in the release. ''CNIGA calls upon the governor to follow through with
the promise made to local governments by both the state of California and the
tribal governments when they entered into these compacts by releasing the
funds to be allocated as intended.''
While the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act does not require tribes to pay for
local impacts, the tribal governments involved obviously understand the
importance of maintaining good government-to-government relations with their
adjacent municipal counterparts. Yet a bureaucratic snafu at the state level has
sullied tribal efforts at good will.
Who's ripping whom off now?
The last holdout
A long-running dispute over gaming compacts in New Mexico appears to have
been settled. On July 12, Pojoaque Pueblo and the state of New Mexico reached
an agreement to settle a dispute involving gaming compacts. Pojoaque agreed to
pay Albuquerque $24 million in previously contested slot machine revenue
sharing payments, according to an Associated Press report.
The contention stems from a series of Class III compacts that were
renegotiated in 2001. These agreements required New Mexico's gaming tribes to pay to
the state no more than 8 percent of their net slot machine win. The original
compacts, negotiated in 1997, called for a revenue sharing rate of 16 percent.
Several tribes believed this rate to be excessive, and their protests
resulted in the 2001 renegotiations.
The AP reported that, while the settlement still requires judicial approval
from U.S. District Court Judge Bruce Black, Pojoaque will begin making the 8
percent payments immediately. The $24 million in back payments owed by the
pueblo will be paid off in installments of $1 million annually for three years,
followed by payments of $2 million per year, until the settlement is paid
off in approximately 12 and one-half years.
Pojoaque was the last of New Mexico's 13 gaming pueblos to agree to the 2001
compacts.
Off-reservation casinos
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian
Nation of New York case last March has caused quite a conundrum. While
recognizing the legitimacy of an Indian land claim case, the court effectively denied
remedy other than the arduous process of applying for federal land trust
protection. Statements made at a recent committee hearing in the House of
Representatives may foreshadow limitations on the ability of states to leverage
casinos into land-claim settlement talks with Indian nations.
Reports in the Albany Times-Union, Syracuse Post Standard and Utica
Observer-Dispatch state that Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House
Resources Committee, is drafting legislation that could prevent off-reservation
casinos. Pombo's proposal would require tribes seeking to establish a casino
on lands outside their recognized reservations to gain approval of other
tribes within 200 miles of the intended off-rez location.
The ramifications of such legislation, if it becomes law, could be
widespread. One result would be an effective ban on the ability of tribes to move
across state lines to operate casinos. In New York, this will eliminate Albany's
ability to use tribes from Wisconsin and Oklahoma as leverage against
in-state tribes in negotiating land claim settlements.
The 200-mile approval provision effectively will pit tribal governments
against each other - it remains to be seen whether the ''haves'' will allow the
dilution of their patron bases by allowing new competition close to home.
In California, several landless tribes have proposed building casinos in or
near urban areas. The Pombo proposal would effectively torpedo such plans.
And when viewed in combination with the Sherrill case, which said tribal
governments could not automatically assert sovereignty over reacquired lands,
landless tribes will not have a viable means to create reservations by purchase.
The BIA is already backed up for decades in its recognition process. Will we
now witness the creation of a similar logjam in BIA's land-into-trust
operation?
This Message Is Reprinted Under The Fair Use
Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
************************************************** ************
FROM: INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY NEWSPAPER
_http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411300_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411300)
Let the Games Begin
Posted: July 26, 2005 by: _Tom Wanamaker_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=344) / Indian Country Today
NIGC reports another double-digit revenue jump for Indian gaming
Schwarzenegger 'rips off' California localities
Indian gaming reaped $19.4 billion in revenue in 2004. Statistics released
July 13 by the National Indian Gaming Commission, the industry's federal
regulatory agency, revealed a nationwide growth rate of 15.3 percent over total
revenue of $16.8 billion posted in 2003. Tribal casino revenue grew by 13.7
percent from 2002 to 2003.
''The Indian gaming industry continues to grow at a steady pace,'' said NIGC
Chairman Philip C. Hogen in a news release. ''This growth has allowed tribes
to create jobs, continue economic development opportunities, build
much-needed infrastructure within their communities and provide services for their
members.''
At many tribally owned casinos, non-Indians fill a considerable majority of
gaming jobs while tribal payments to vendors, contractors and suppliers
ripple throughout local economies across the country. As the industry brings in
more cash for tribal governments, state treasuries enjoy the benefits of larger
tribal contributions through revenue ''sharing'' payments negotiated into
Class III gaming compacts.
NIGC's Region V, comprising Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, reported the
greatest increase in gaming revenue, a 43.9 percent jump to $1.2 billion in 2004
from $867 million in 2003. Look for this region to post another large gain in
2005; in November 2004, Oklahoma voters approved a referendum that, among other
things, allows Indian casinos in that state to upgrade their Class II
facilities to the more lucrative Class III.
Region II - California and northern Nevada - posted the greatest monetary
increase: a gain of just under $1.1 billion, representing a 23.2 percent boost.
Schwarzenegger terminates special distribution
In September 1999, 61 tribes in California signed Class III gaming compacts
with Sacramento. Each of these good-faith agreements contained provisions
requiring the tribes to pay into a special distribution fund designed to
compensate local governments for off-reservation infrastructure impacts caused by
tribally owned casinos. Such impacts include things like building and upgrading
roads, increased usage of emergency services, treatment programs for
problem gamblers and the like.
Yet current Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (of ''the Indians are ripping us
off'' fame) nixed plans to pay out $20 million of the special distribution monies
earmarked for local governments. According to a news release from the
California Nations Indian Gaming Association, on July 11 Schwarzenegger ''objected
to a budget line item'' and instead ''decided to hold the funds in a reserve
account.''
The North County Times reported that the governor's ''hasty and erroneous
decision'' came about after the state gaming commission mistakenly told him
that ''none'' of the localities involved filed the appropriate paperwork on
time. In fact, the Times said, ''pretty much all of them had'' done so. It seems
that the governor and his gaming overseers need to get on the same page.
CNIGA is ''deeply disappointed that the governor chose to deprive local
governments from the funds they were promised,'' said Anthony Miranda, CNIGA
chairman, in the release. ''CNIGA calls upon the governor to follow through with
the promise made to local governments by both the state of California and the
tribal governments when they entered into these compacts by releasing the
funds to be allocated as intended.''
While the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act does not require tribes to pay for
local impacts, the tribal governments involved obviously understand the
importance of maintaining good government-to-government relations with their
adjacent municipal counterparts. Yet a bureaucratic snafu at the state level has
sullied tribal efforts at good will.
Who's ripping whom off now?
The last holdout
A long-running dispute over gaming compacts in New Mexico appears to have
been settled. On July 12, Pojoaque Pueblo and the state of New Mexico reached
an agreement to settle a dispute involving gaming compacts. Pojoaque agreed to
pay Albuquerque $24 million in previously contested slot machine revenue
sharing payments, according to an Associated Press report.
The contention stems from a series of Class III compacts that were
renegotiated in 2001. These agreements required New Mexico's gaming tribes to pay to
the state no more than 8 percent of their net slot machine win. The original
compacts, negotiated in 1997, called for a revenue sharing rate of 16 percent.
Several tribes believed this rate to be excessive, and their protests
resulted in the 2001 renegotiations.
The AP reported that, while the settlement still requires judicial approval
from U.S. District Court Judge Bruce Black, Pojoaque will begin making the 8
percent payments immediately. The $24 million in back payments owed by the
pueblo will be paid off in installments of $1 million annually for three years,
followed by payments of $2 million per year, until the settlement is paid
off in approximately 12 and one-half years.
Pojoaque was the last of New Mexico's 13 gaming pueblos to agree to the 2001
compacts.
Off-reservation casinos
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian
Nation of New York case last March has caused quite a conundrum. While
recognizing the legitimacy of an Indian land claim case, the court effectively denied
remedy other than the arduous process of applying for federal land trust
protection. Statements made at a recent committee hearing in the House of
Representatives may foreshadow limitations on the ability of states to leverage
casinos into land-claim settlement talks with Indian nations.
Reports in the Albany Times-Union, Syracuse Post Standard and Utica
Observer-Dispatch state that Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House
Resources Committee, is drafting legislation that could prevent off-reservation
casinos. Pombo's proposal would require tribes seeking to establish a casino
on lands outside their recognized reservations to gain approval of other
tribes within 200 miles of the intended off-rez location.
The ramifications of such legislation, if it becomes law, could be
widespread. One result would be an effective ban on the ability of tribes to move
across state lines to operate casinos. In New York, this will eliminate Albany's
ability to use tribes from Wisconsin and Oklahoma as leverage against
in-state tribes in negotiating land claim settlements.
The 200-mile approval provision effectively will pit tribal governments
against each other - it remains to be seen whether the ''haves'' will allow the
dilution of their patron bases by allowing new competition close to home.
In California, several landless tribes have proposed building casinos in or
near urban areas. The Pombo proposal would effectively torpedo such plans.
And when viewed in combination with the Sherrill case, which said tribal
governments could not automatically assert sovereignty over reacquired lands,
landless tribes will not have a viable means to create reservations by purchase.
The BIA is already backed up for decades in its recognition process. Will we
now witness the creation of a similar logjam in BIA's land-into-trust
operation?
