Report: Federal authorities to consider tribal gaming expansion and reform plan
State leaders voice opposition to move which enables negotiation of online gambling tribal compacts
US tribal gaming could be set for a huge shake up to make it easier for tribal groups to operate online betting, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The changes come in the form of proposals from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an agency within the wider US Department of the Interior (DOI) with responsibility for the protection of native American tribes.
Proposals would allow tribal groups to negotiate to operate statewide online gambling under existing tribal gaming compacts with states. In addition, proposals would see online bets deemed as being ‘on-reservation’ if the server processing those bets is on tribal lands.
The issue of the placement of online bets on tribal lands has come under significant scrutiny as a part of the ongoing legal case between the Seminole Tribe in Florida and a number of state-based cardrooms, that have challenged a tribal compact signed with the state.
Transactions would go through servers located on tribal land in a so-called “hub-and-spoke” model, a provision which bypasses both federal and state law that deem sports betting in Florida illegal.
A controversial agreement, it has been the subject of litigation over damages on the grounds that Florida’s governor and the state legislature exceeded their constitutional authority and caused financial disadvantage to their businesses as well as violating federal law.
Judges have agreed with the cardrooms, which has led to an appeal by the DOI that is currently pending in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit court in Washington DC.
The proposals have drawn support from tribal leaders, including Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians in California chairman Bo Mazzetti, who wrote to the Bureau of Indian Affairs offering his backing.
“Internet gaming is rapidly becoming the largest expansion of gaming in modern history and is quickly developing into a reality where tribes are on the outside looking in,” Mazzetti wrote.
Opponents of the changes have suggested that states would be forced to regulate other forms of gambling they might not have already otherwise permitted in order to retain compliance with federal laws.
However, 20 state attorneys in Republican Party states have already expressed their concerns about the proposals, citing the potential impact on state authorities and policies.
“The proposed regulations would authorize an unprecedented expansion of tribal casino gaming –and would achieve that outcome by unjustifiably restricting the ability of state governments to adopt and enforce their own policies on gaming matters,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said.
Other proposals mooted include making it easier for tribes to acquire land, streamlining the current process of government intervention, and the placing of such land into trust with a more compact process.
Under these changes, DOI officials would look at how the acquisition would benefit the tribe concerned and the proximity of it to the main reservation. This land can be used for casino developments as required.