Reid, Bryan push to block Babbitt on gaming

Paul Kane

Friday, Jan. 16, 1998 | 3:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan are planning to try and block a new proposal from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt that would give the secretary the final say in disputes between Indian tribes and states over gambling.

Babbitt's plan, released on Friday, is an attempt to address the high-pitched battles between Indian tribes and states such as California and Florida, both of which want to forbid gambling on Indian reservations. His proposed rule would be a clarification of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) - which Reid co-authored.

"If the states and tribes can't agree ... the secretary will adopt procedures (to create a gambling compact)," said Robert T. Anderson, a counselor to Babbitt.

Reid, Bryan and the National Governors Association all claimed that Babbitt's proposal goes too far and gives too much power to the Interior Department on a very local issue.

"Substantive changes to IGRA should not be made by unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Interior," Reid said. "As one of the original authors of IGRA, I know that it was never Congress' intent to vest this much power in the Department of Interior."

But Anderson said unforeseen actions taken by the states and the tribes since IGRA was first passed have left too many holes in the law for it to be effective. Originally, it set up a process for tribes to negotiate gambling compacts with states, allowing reservations to operate the same kind of gaming that already exists in the states.

Over the years, however, tribes have exploited loopholes in state laws that allowed for bingo or casino nights at churches to get approval to operate full-fledged casinos on their reservations. In turn, some states have flat out refused to negotiate in good faith with tribes.

The IGRA law allowed for tribes to sue states if they didn't negotiate. But Florida used the 11th Amendment, which shields states from suits, to successfully argue that it cannot be sued. That left a permanent deadlock over a gaming compact.

The new rule - which is now under a 90-day public comment period and won't become law until later this year or early next year - would allow Babbitt to step into cases like Florida and negotiate a deal himself. Anderson said states and tribes can still negotiate compacts, but Babbitt will step in if the two sides become deadlocked and states shield themselves with the 11th Amendment.

"This is something Congress didn't contemplate," he said. "A key component of IGRA (the lawsuit) was frustrated. We view that as an unforeseen gap. We've got gap-filling authority."

The Babbitt proposal has been in the works for several months, and last fall Bryan took a preemptive strike to halt Babbitt. He and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, attached a rider to a spending bill that prevented Babbitt from negotiating any new Indian gaming compacts.

That moratorium expires at the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, and Reid and Bryan could offer the rider again to extend the ban on Indian compacts another year. They say they will have a specific bill drafted and introduced the first day Congress reconvenes.

"Gaming should be allowed only where citizens want it," Bryan said. "Indian operated gaming is virtually unregulated. ... There could be a backlash against all gaming because of these failures and the Interior Department's unwise actions."