Commission urges hold put on new Indian gaming rules

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 10:51 a.m.

TEMPE, ARIZ. -- The National Gambling Impact Study Commission on Thursday threw itself into the raging debate over proposed Clinton administration rules that could lead to an explosion of Indian gaming across America.

The nine-member commission, following a motion from Commissioner Bill Bible, voted to urge Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to put a hold on the rules until the panel completes its study of the complex issues facing the $7 billion-a-year Indian gaming industry.

It's the first time the commission, which is examining the spread of gambling in states and Indian reservations, has interjected itself into a public policy debate since it began holding hearings last summer.

The commission, which ended its second day of hearings in the West on Thursday, must deliver its report to Congress and the president next June.

Babbitt is pushing new rules that would give him authority to approve Indian casinos over the objections of the states.

Under the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, the Interior Department can give the green light to a new Indian casino only after a tribe signs a compact with its state.

So far, 188 of the 558 recognized tribes in the country operate casinos and high-stakes bingo parlors in 28 states, according to government figures.

Bible, chairman of Nevada's Gaming Control Board, told his colleagues Thursday they had an obligation to ask Babbitt to back off so that the commission's examination of the muddied state of Indian gaming could figure in the secretary's decision.

"If Babbitt's proposed rules would go into effect, they could very well gut the work of the commission," Bible said today. "It would fundamentally alter the relationship between states and tribes and make it easier for tribes to establish gaming that is not subject to any form of state supervision or oversight."

Bible's motion Thursday was seconded by an unlikely ally, James Dobson, a religious right talk show host who is one of the casino industry's biggest critics.

Commission Chairwoman Kay James, an emerging leader in the Christian right, supported the resolution and earlier Thursday questioned the need for Babbitt to intervene in the negotiations between the states and the Indians.

The Christian Coalition, pushing an anti-gaming agenda, and the National Governors Association both support an amendment to the Interior Department's appropriations bill that would continue a moratorium prohibiting Babbitt from implementing the new rules. The amendment is being pushed by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wy., and Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev.

Reid today called the Gambling Impact Study Commission's resolution an "important move" in the ongoing fight to block Babbitt's efforts, which Nevada casino industry leaders fear could harm the state's economy.

"If the administration doesn't follow this advice, they are fools," Reid said. "If this commission accomplishes nothing else, it will at least throw the spotlight on the way Indian gaming has gotten out of hand."

Reid accused Babbitt of trying to be the "judge, prosecutor and jury" in the Indian gaming process.

Bryan today said the commission's action "will be helpful" in persuading his colleagues on Capitol Hill to continue blocking Babbitt's push to make it easier for tribes to open casinos. The current moratorium imposed by Congress expires Sept. 30. An amendment will have to pass before then to keep the secretary in check.

"This gives us an additional argument," Bryan said, adding it appears as though Babbitt is bent on "violating the spirit of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Stephanie Hannah, an Interior Department spokeswoman today declined to comment on the federal gaming commission's resolution, saying no one at the department has had a chance to see it.

"At the present time, we're under a moratorium not to implement the final regulations," Hannah said. "It's not clear yet when the final regulations will be published."

The governors believe Babbitt would be infringing the rights of the states by allowing his agency, rather than the states, to approve Indian casinos. They also believe it would discourage tribes from negotiating compacts with the states.

But the tribes insist the new rules merely would free them to pursue their right to develop their downtrodden economies.

The debate over Babbitt's proposed rules is just one of many hot issues facing Indian gaming, which has struggled to deal with competing sovereign interests.