New approach may jump-start gambling talks between Washington, Colvilles

Sunday, Jan. 30, 2000 | 7:22 a.m.

Now the tribes hope to get talks moving again through a negotiation process that U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt put forth last spring to resolve tribal-state gambling conflicts. But the state is resisting the effort, arguing that the process favors tribes and is a federal infringement on state authority.

As a result, a resolution could still be years away.

An attorney for the Colvilles says further delays will hurt the tribes, who have relied on gambling revenue to fight poverty on the sprawling northeastern Washington reservation.

"Colville gambling is nothing less than hope and salvation," David Shaw said. ""How else are people going to survive? If you could have a snapshot of the poverty and ills on this reservation before gambling and then see it now - I think you will say this tribe is rich."

State officials say they are merely trying to ensure gambling is conducted on the level.

"The state's interest, in a broad brush, is to make sure gaming is conducted fairly and that patrons are treated fairly and the money is going where it is supposed to go, rather than to nefarious places," said Jonathan McCoy, a state assistant attorney general.

The state wants the Colvilles to run gambling like most other tribes, which means no slot machines and a plenty of state oversight.

The Colvilles say they need slots to attract patrons to their isolated reservation. The Colvilles offer the machines at three casinos.

The tribes and the state have negotiated and gone to court. An attempt by the state to have the tribes' slot machines declared illegal is pending in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

In Washington, 12 tribes offer gambling under state compacts that delineate how gambling can be conducted. Only the Colvilles, Spokanes and Shoalwaters offer gambling without compacts.

Failures between several other tribes and states nationwide to reach compacts prompted Babbitt to propose a so-called "secretarial procedures" process.

Under the procedures, tribes would outline the types and extent of gambling desired and propose regulations. States could offer counterproposals, and a mediator would try to bring about a compromise.

The procedures would apply only in cases in which a tribe has been unable to negotiate a compact and has then sued, only to have the lawsuit dismissed under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution. That amendment gives states immunity from such lawsuits unless they consent to the litigation.

The U.S. Supreme Court cited the amendment when it ruled in 1996 that Florida was protected from a lawsuit by the Seminole Tribe.

Florida and Alabama have sued in an attempt to kill Babbitt's proposed procedures.

"It's a trap door and it completely disregards the fact that a state may really have negotiated in good faith," said John Glogau, senior attorney in Florida's attorney general's office.

Shaw, the Colvilles' attorney, disagrees.

"What are the states afraid of?" he said. "This is not a process where tribes are going to get everything they want."

In addition to the Colvilles, four other tribes nationwide have applied to use the secretarial procedures.

The Interior Department is processing the applications. But Babbitt has told states he'll allow the Florida lawsuit to run its course before implementing any agreements.

In the Colvilles' case, tribal officials are moving forward with their application, but Washington is challenging their right to proceed.

By mid-February, the tribes and the state are to have selected a mediator - if the state doesn't stop the process before that. The state has requested that if mediation does go forward, slot machines be taken off the table, arguing they clearly are illegal under state law.