Governor, tribes agree to cap number of new gambling devices

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998 | 2:08 a.m.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gary Locke kicked the lawyers out of the room and struck a deal with tribal leaders to limit the number of machines per casino and the tribes' ability to create a Powerball-style lottery.

The deal revised an agreement reached last month between 12 tribes, the attorney general's office and the staff of the state Gambling Commission on a proposal to allow online lottery and electronic "scratch ticket" games in tribal casinos.

The Gambling Commission was scheduled to vote Thursday in Vancouver, Wash., to either forward the plan to Locke for his approval or refer it back to staff for more negotiations. A tribal spokesman said the commission's endorsement was expected now that Locke has put his stamp on the negotiations.

"I felt it was important for me, as governor, to address my concerns directly with the tribal leaders before the Gambling Commission sent the agreement to me to sign," Locke said through his spokesman. "I felt there had to be a limit on the number of machines each tribal facility can have.

"I don't want unlimited, Las Vegas-style casinos in our state."

The governor called leaders of several tribes last week and told them he had concerns about the proposal, which was the result of court-ordered mediation to find a way to allow tribes to operate electronic forms of gambling without violating state laws banning slot machines.

The tribes bitterly complained that Locke was making an "eleventh-hour attempt" to sabotage an agreement that took nearly a year to reach. They said the governor's interference could threaten tribal cooperation with the state on efforts to restore salmon runs and protect the environment.

But Locke spokesman Keith Love said relations were smoothed over Wednesday after the governor, himself a lawyer, asked attorneys to leave the room so he and the tribal leaders could hammer out an agreement.

"He negotiated on his own. They really seemed to appreciate that," Love said. "At the end of the meeting, they said they appreciated the respect he showed them and they gave him an ovation."

Meeting privately in a conference room at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the two sides agreed to limit the number of machines allocated to each tribe to 675, down from 750 in the original agreement.

In addition, tribes could buy and sell allocations from each other so that those with bigger casinos could offer more games, but the total number of machines for each tribe would be capped at 1,500. The earlier agreement didn't include a cap.

The tribes also agreed to seek the governor's approval before attempting to link the online games among several casinos to create a larger lottery, similar to the multistate Powerball game. Under current rules, the tribes only have to seek permission from the commission.

Tribal officials expressed satisfaction with the amended deal and hoped it would lead to quick approval by the Gambling Commission and the governor. They also said it will help improve relations between the tribes and the state.

"We view this as a necessary first step in resolving a host of regulatory issues including health care, transportation, welfare reform, growth management and salmon recovery," the 12 tribes said in a joint statement.

The proposed online lottery games would mimic the state's Lotto and pulltab games, with a predetermined number of winners and losers and numbers randomly generated by computer. Instead of paper tickets, however, the results would be posted on video display terminals.

No such games exist, but the technology is available.

The agreement applies to the Chehalis, Upper Skagit, Swinomish, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Muckleshoot, Nooksack, Suquamish, Jamestown S'Klallam, Puyallup, Yakama, Squaxin Island and Tulalip tribes.