Tribes complain states getting greedy over gambling revenue

Lolita C. Baldor

Thursday, July 10, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Indian leaders urged the government Wednesday to set policies on tribal gambling agreements to prevent cash-strapped states from trying to balance their budgets on the backs of Indian casinos.

Senators on the Indian Affairs Committee agreed something must be done to ensure that state compacts don't divert money from important tribal services.

Pointing to the Mashantucket Pequot tribe's compact with the state of Connecticut -- which sends 25 percent of its slot machine revenue to the state -- tribal officials said other states are now demanding similar fees to help close their deficits.

"Compact negotiations have become a smokescreen for extortion," Jacob Viarrial, governor of the Pojoaque Pueblo in Santa Fe, N.M., told the committee.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, part of the Interior Department, approves the compacts on a case-by-case basis, said acting Assistant Secretary Aurene M. Martin.

"We look at it to determine if the tribe is able to make the payment and if what they are getting in return for that payment is of sufficient economic benefit to them," she said.

But lawmakers said they may consider reforming the Indian gaming act to better address the problems.

"We know the economy brought significant problems for state governments," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "But no shortfall in revenue is quite as significant as that which exists on our tribal reservations. ... (State compacts) should not interrupt this new stream of revenue to the tribes."

The BIA has approved 250 casino gambling compacts for tribes in 25 states, and there are another 30 to 50 tribes currently negotiating compacts, according to the National Indian Gaming Association. Some tribes share no revenue with states, while others pay anywhere from 8 percent to 25 percent of gaming or slot revenues.

Brenda Soulliere, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, also laid blame on the Pequot agreement, saying its generous revenue sharing "set an unreasonable precedent from which other state governments have begun to shape their demands."

Pedro Johnson, public affairs executive director for the Mashantucket Pequots, defended the 25 percent payment as fair, since it gave the tribe exclusive rights to slots in the state when it was signed and there is no expiration date. Since January 1993 the tribe has poured $1.6 billion into the state's coffers. But, he said, that amount may not be right for other tribes.

Some tribal leaders have negotiated compacts with no revenue sharing, and they said their casinos are economic boons to their states even without it.

Herman William Jr., chairman of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington, said his tribe paid $45 million in salaries and $100 million for goods and services last year. Sixty percent of the tribe's casino workers are non-Indian, he said.