Idaho governor signs bill ratifying agreement

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 10:01 a.m.

As part of a aerial swing through southern and eastern Idaho, the governor traveled to the Shoshone-Bannocks' southeastern Idaho Fort Hall Indian Reservation on Wednesday to sign legislation ratifying a gambling compact reached in February between the tribes and the state.

The measure was approved by the House 48-21 and the Senate 27-8.

As part of the deal to secure the federally required compact, both the tribe and the state agreed to waive their sovereign immunity. That will enable a judge to decide whether the so-called electronic pull-tab machines are illegal slot machines as the state claims or nothing more than a legal electronic versions of a type of game the Idaho Lottery offers.

Leaders of the Shoshone-Bannock, Idaho's largest tribal group, and their allies maintain the legislation involves only their operations. And they objected to the three northern Idaho tribes' campaign against authorizing the court test.

But leaders of the Nez Perce, Kootenai and Coeur d'Alene tribes, all of which signed compacts in 1992, have insisted any court decision will directly affect their casinos, where thousands of the machines generate millions of dollars in profits.

That money has been put to work expanding job opportunities and education and health services on their chronically depressed economies, and some money also has been shared with schools in communities surrounding reservations.

Without a compact, the Shoshone-Bannocks have been vulnerable for years to having their casino shut down by federal agents. That never materialized even though the state requested intervention several times in the 1990s, and U.S. Attorney Betty Richardson has said she more recently was asked by state officials to withhold enforcement while negotiations continued.

Meanwhile, the northern Idaho tribes have turned their attention to considering a 2002 ballot initiative that would seek public approval for clarifying the legality of Indian-operated electronic gambling machines. They also intend to continue negotiating with the Kempthorne administration toward an out-of-court settlement that would limit the growth of Indian gambling in exchange for the state dropping its legal challenge to the existing machines.

And the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, which suspended work on a $32 million expansion of resort amenities tied to its casino operation amid the debate over the Shoshone-Bannock compact, was preparing to resume construction.