March 13, 2006
Rocky Mountain News Editorial
Public alarm over the possibility of a huge Indian casino project plunked down practically next to Denver could be permanently calmed if a bill just introduced in Congress makes its way into law. That would be a relief to most Coloradans, who have repeatedly made clear that they don't want gambling to be expanded.
Chairman Richard Pombo of the House Resources Committee, who introduced H.R. 4893 last week, says it will close a loophole in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that allows tribes to acquire land off their reservations, typically close to population centers, for the purpose of putting a casino there.
Just such a plan, called the Homecoming Project, was floated in 2004 on behalf of the Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribes of Oklahoma, dangling the carrot of settlement of old Indian land claims to 27 million acres in the state. Gov. Bill Owens refused to enter negotiations on the proposal, observing, "Colorado citizens have overwhelmingly rejected the expansion of gaming on seven consecutive ballot measures."
But bad ideas have a way of coming back, especially when there's potentially a ton of money involved. There are some 400 tribal casinos nationally, and they took in a total of $18.5 billion in 2004. According to the Department of the Interior, some 30 tribes have successfully gained land separate from their reservations for casinos, and others are trying in a number of states.
Pombo's bill would repeal the section of the act that has permitted the practice, often called "reservation shopping." A tribe that already has land eligible for gaming would not be allowed to acquire any land not contiguous to its reservation to be used for that purpose. For newly established tribes, or those who do not currently have land, it spells out the process for determining the impact on, and the wishes of, the local communities where casinos might be built - but only if the location is one where the tribe has its primary geographical and historical connections.
No one expected that Indian gaming would take off the way it did, let alone the extent to which it would start expanding beyond existing reservation lands. Because dealing with tribal matters is a federal responsibility, there's an implicit threat that the decision on a casino project will be made in Washington, regardless of the wishes of local and state residents and officials. Sometimes, as in the case of the Homecoming Project, the threat of a lawsuit was made explicitly.
Given these changing circumstances, modifications to the Indian gaming act are very much needed.
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