California
A federal ruling recently found that the state is not allowed to ask for payments from Indian tribes in exchange for more slot machines during compact negotiations. Now the California Attorney General’s Office is appealing the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; it is also asking that U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine Jr., who handed down the initial ruling, stay that ruling until the appeal plays out. McCurine had stated that California needed to offer more than additional slot machines to tribes in exchange for payments, and that if it didn’t, it amounted to an illegal tax on Indian gaming. This has been a standard negotiation point between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and tribes across the state, although the Rincon Band of Luiseño Mission Indians is the only tribe to bring the issue to court. In its compact negotiations, the state sought nearly $38 million in payments per year in exchange for 900 additional slot machines (bringing the tribe’s total to 2,500); this is despite the fact that an economist hired by the state determined that the new slots would only bring in $1.7 million in additional yearly revenue.
New York
The Department of Interior has recently placed 13,004 acres of land into trust for the Oneida Indian Nation, including the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. This victory for the tribe comes after losing a Supreme Court battle in 2005, in which the Oneida sought to maintain sovereignty on land the tribe had purchased over the last 20 years. After rejecting the request 8–1, the Court recommended the Oneida seek to place all the land it owned into federal trust. The tribe did so, for 17,370 acres, almost immediately. In its decision to place the land in trust, the Department of Interior noted that, “The [Oneida] nation’s ability to exercise governmental authority over the lands and its uses, and to protect it for future generations, will promote the health, welfare, and social needs of its members and their families.”
The decision also stipulates that the tribe must pay back taxes before the land is taken into trust, including on the land where Turning Stone is located. That total is about $22.5 million.
Washington, D.C.
Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has published final regulations in the Federal Register implementing Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA). IGRA contains a general prohibition against gaming on land acquired after Oct. 17, 1988, the date the act was signed, which may be overcome if the land meets certain exceptions. The final rule incorporates suggestions received by the BIA through public comment and the tribal consultation process. The rule became effective on June 19, 2008.
Publication of the Section 20 rule caps a year-long effort by Artman. It joins initiatives such as the review of the Indian Reorganization Act fee-to-trust process (25 CFR Part 151) followed by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and issuance of a guidance memorandum on 151(11)(b) for off-reservation acquisitions related to gaming.
The new regulations articulate standards that the Interior Department and NIGC will follow when interpreting Section 20 exceptions to the general prohibition against gaming on after-acquired trust lands and establishes an application process for tribes seeking to conduct gaming activities on lands acquired in trust by the Bureau after Oct.17, 1988.