Tribe to launch initiative campaign; governor touts negotiations

Thursday, April 6, 2000 | 3:42 a.m.

Tribal leaders decided on the move after the Senate last week finally approved a gambling compact between the state and southeastern Idaho's Shoshone-Bannock tribes that includes an agreement to have a federal judge determine if the machines are legal.

The state contends the electronic pull-tab games are illegal slot machines, but Indian tribes - including the Coeur d'Alene - argue that they are simply an electronic version of state Lottery games.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who signed the Shoshone-Bannock compact in February, supported a call by northern Idaho's Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce and Kootenai tribes for a one-year moratorium on taking the issue to court. But the governor, who is engaged with negotiations aimed at limiting expansion of gambling on the reservations, never publicly declared his support for the moratorium.

That left gambling-wary legislators who support putting the issue before a judge free to publicly declare Kempthorne's categorical support for the Shoshone-Bannock compact without mentioning his private position on the moratorium.

The governor took issue with such a characterization on Thursday.

"I don't know what that means, to be public," he said. "If I tell my general counsel, who is testifying, that if asked the question, 'Would I support the moratorium extension?' the answer is, 'Absolutely.' So I think we're picking at semantics here."

But his general counsel, Michael Bogert, was not publicly asked that question by legislators, many of whom already knew the answer. And Kempthorne said he was unaware of any frustration with his position on the part of tribal leaders.

"I think my relationship with the tribes is positive," he said. "I don't think it's effected the relationship, because of the negotiations."

Meanwhile, Kempthorne's signature on legislation ratifying the Shoshone-Bannock compact will clear the way for the legality of thousands of electronic pull-tab games on Idaho reservations to be placed before a federal judge.

"The governor told us he was going to sign the bill," said David Matheson, chief executive officer of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's gambling operation. "We have conceded the point. I think it is a done deal."

So Matheson said the focus has shifted to a ballot measure for the 2002 general election to clarify the machines' status in Idaho law.

"That is basically what it would do, but our lawyers tell us it will probably be a little more complicated than that," he said.

In the meantime, Matheson said, the tribe will continue negotiating with the state to settle the gaming issue without litigation. And Kempthorne acknowledged on Thursday that fruitful talks could lead to the legal action with the Shoshone-Bannock being rescinded.

"If we can come up with something that we agree on and that I agree is beneficial, then if there is not a ruling by the federal court prior to the next legislative session, then I can have that discussion with legislative leaders," the governor said.

Among other things, Kempthorne said he wants a limit on future expansion of gambling machines and to block riverboat gambling on waters owned by the Coeur d'Alene. In exchange, the state would drop its legal challenge to existing machines.

Even before it cleared the Legislature, the Shoshone-Bannock compact had an impact on the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's plan to expand its casino operations in Worley. Work was suspended on the $32 million project, and uncertainty created by the legislation ruined the tribe's ability to secure long-term bond financing, Matheson said.

But he said short-term conventional financing is still available in smaller increments, and construction on the project could resume in the next couple of weeks.

Expansion plans call for a 108-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course, a 5,000-seat events center, a 100-space recreational vehicle park, a 1,000-space parking lot and a 400-acre nature preserve and wildlife tour operation on Lake Coeur d'Alene.