Nebraska lawmakers fail to pull Indian gambling bill out of committee

Scott Bauer

Thursday, March 2, 2000 | 10:19 a.m.

LINCOLN, Neb. - The sponsor of a proposal to allow casino-style gambling on American Indian land in Nebraska is vowing to continue the fight despite being rebuffed this legislative session.

"We'll be back next year," Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek said Wednesday after senators rejected a motion that would have allowed them to debate the issue this session.

A motion to pull Schimek's proposal (LR289CA) out of the General Affairs Committee fell two votes short of the 25 needed.

"It's probably the biggest disappointment of my legislative life," Schimek said, wiping away tears.

With the measure dead for this session, anti-gambling advocates were ecstatic.

"Was that fantastic or what?" said Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life. "I'm doing cartwheels."

Schimek said she knew the vote would be close. With the discussion limited to one hour, she said all the concerns related to gambling on Indian lands could not be adequately addressed.

Schimek filed the motion to pull the proposal out of the General Affairs Committee - where it has been deadlocked on a split vote.

With members of the Santee Sioux tribe watching from the balcony of the legislative chamber, senators gave impassioned speeches both in support and opposition of allowing gambling on Indian lands.

"It's not a gambling issue," Schimek said during the debate. "It's a sovereignty issue."

Tribes should be allowed to implement gambling in order to generate money for economic development, she said.

Opposing the amendment takes away the rights of the tribes to decide what is best for their communities, Schimek said.

Others disagreed.

"This is a gambling issue pure and simple," said Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha. "It is not a sovereignty issue. It is not a Native American issue."

Jensen and other opponents warned that passing the amendment would open the door for casino-style gambling across Nebraska controlled by interests from Las Vegas and others outside the state.

Loontjer said the vote sends a message that the Legislature is not in favor of expanding gambling.

Had the motion been successful, the amendment would have had to pass through three rounds of legislative debate. It then would have been placed on the November ballot for voters to decide.

With Wednesday's defeat, the earliest it could be placed on the ballot is 2002.

Gov. Mike Johanns said he thought the Legislature made the right choice.

"I don't think we want to build an economy based on gambling," he said.

The state's four recognized Indian tribes all supported the measure.

The Santee Sioux has been operating a casino on its northeast Nebraska reservation since 1996. It has argued its sovereign status under federal law gives it the right to operate the casino.

The Santee are being fined $6,000 a day for continuing to operate the casino.

Schimek said that issue could have been addressed had the amendment passed.

"We need to solve that problem," she said.