Reid blocks Indian casino, Michigan tribe to try again

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has blocked a proposal that would pave the way for a new Indian casino in Michigan.

But Bay Mills Indian Community leaders, along with Michigan politicians, are vowing to revive the project in Congress next year.

The 1,500-member tribe and Michigan Gov. John Engler had worked out a deal in which the Indian Community would drop its claims to lands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in exchange for river-front property in Port Huron to develop a three-story casino.

The deal would help settle land claim injustices dating to the 1850s, tribal President L. John Lufkins told a congressional committee in October.

"My people have waited patiently and with confidence that this wrong would be made right," Lufkins said in his testimony. "Do not make their wait in vain."

But the land deal, in the form of a bill introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., needs congressional approval before the casino could be developed. And Reid objects because it would set an unusual precedent to allow a tribe to construct a casino off reservation property, Reid aides said.

Nevada gaming officials and casino operators have been wary of the increase in the number of Indian casinos in recent years. Reid is concerned the Port Huron deal could open the door to more off-reservation Indian casinos, particularly in California, where Indian operations already compete with Las Vegas and Reno casinos.

"Sen. Reid is always going to be concerned about the unauthorized and unprecedented expansion of Indian gaming to off-reservation land," Reid spokeswoman Sharyn Stein said.

Reid, who declined to comment for this story, quietly blocked the Bay Mills land deal in the final week of the Senate session last month.

Undeterred, Bay Mills officials said they will seek support of the state's newly elected governor, Jennifer Granholm, and likely prod Congress to re-consider the deal next year. Both Michigan senators and officials in Port Huron, which suffers from high unemployment, support the casino.

"We'll regroup with the new Congress," said Tom Shields, public relations spokesman for the tribe. "Obviously the (congressional) leadership has changed."

Shields said the tribe wants to work with Reid to craft legislation the senator could support. A compromise is possible, but probably not likely, a Reid staffer said.

Stabenow still backs the project and would push for it again, spokesman David Lemmon said.

"She thinks it would be a good economic development tool for Port Huron," Lemmon said.

Reid aides dismissed criticism by one Port Huron newspaper columnist who said Reid is motivated to block the Bay Hills project by his loyalty to his Nevada-based campaign contributors -- MGM MIRAGE and Mandalay Resort Group. The companies each operate a casino in Detroit, which some consider potential competitors to the proposed Port Huron Indian casino.

But Reid aides said the casino giants had not asked him to block the Bay Mills casino. They reiterated that Reid was opposed to the casino deal because it set new precedents.

If MGM and Mandalay are worried about competition, they shouldn't be, tribe spokesman Shields said. The the $80 million Port Huron casino would primarily compete with a Canadian casino across the river, not with the Detroit casinos 70 miles away, he said.

"This is going to be a relatively small operation compared to the Las Vegas- style casinos (in Detroit)," Shields said. "This is not even in the same ballpark."