State Sens. Schimek, Janssen attend first hearing on Indian gambling

Margery Beck

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 9:23 a.m.

OMAHA, Neb. - State Sen. DiAnna Schimek intends to keep her promise to reintroduce a constitutional amendment in the upcoming legislative session that would allow casino-style gambling on American Indian land in Nebraska.

She reiterated that intention Tuesday after visiting northeast Nebraska's Santee Reservation for the first of several public hearings to be held this month on state reservations as part of an Indian gambling study.

"I'm virtually sure there will be another bill," Schimek said. "I'm not sure it will be the exact same one, but there will be another constitutional amendment."

About 20 people testified at the hearing, all but one in favor of allowing casino gambling on Nebraska reservations to provide tribes the means for economic development.

"There are things that the tribes would like to do for themselves," Schimek said. "This is one avenue that could be used."

Schimek said another advantage of the Santee hearing was giving others a chance to see the projects and programs that are currently being helped with funding from the tribe's casino. "I think it left an impression on all of us," she said.

Nebraska's Omaha and Winnebago tribes run casinos, but they are located in Iowa, which allows casino gambling. The Santee Sioux Tribe has been running a casino in Santee, but it is considered an illegal venture because of Nebraska's ban on casino-style gambling.

Schimek's failed battle this spring to pull her amendment from committee for a debate by the full Legislature took an emotional toll on the Lincoln senator, who called it "probably the biggest disappointment of my legislative life."

She said Tuesday that she's determined not to let last session's disappointment stifle her efforts now.

Backing her is fellow Sen. Ray Janssen of Nickerson, who also attended Tuesday's hearing.

Their focus, Janssen said, will be on the jobs created, the volunteer fire departments and other social programs helped by Indian gambling revenue - particularly from the Santee-run Ohiya Casino that federal courts have ruled has been operating illegally since 1996.

"This is what we're really looking at, is what the economic impact will be in those towns," Janssen said.

Schimek agreed.

"That is certainly one the most cogent arguments," she said. "We all know there hasn't been any meaningful economic development on the reservations."

The proposal is not, Janssen and Schimek repeated, simply a gambling issue.

"The opponents feel that any OK to gambling is bad," Janssen said. "But you could watch a couple of cockroaches jump across the floor, too, and bet on that. You can get addicted to bingo; I've seen that happen."

Schimek responded to charges that allowing casino-style gambling on reservations will create more social problems than it solves, saying that decision should be left to the sovereign nation of the Santee Sioux.

"As you know, I've been traditionally opposed to expanded gambling in the state," Schimek said. "My first change of heart came when I began to realize that sovereignty was the major issue here. And the other thing is that there is gambling all around us already, so that argument is becoming less convincing."

Another public hearing is scheduled for Thursday on the Omaha Reservation in Macy. Two more will be held next week, one Monday at the Ponca Tribal Headquarters in Lincoln and the other Wednesday in Walthill on the Winnebago Reservation.