California
The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), the largest regional Indian Gaming association in the country, has unanimously voted to support four Southern California tribes and oppose any efforts to overturn the compacts they negotiated with the state of California. The action came at a full meeting of the association, which includes 35 gaming tribes and 30 non-gaming tribes, following efforts to overturn the compacts through four referenda petitions proposed for the February ballot. The campaign to overturn the compacts is sponsored by a labor union, a Bay Area land developer that owns two race tracks, and one Southern California and one Northern California tribe.
The compacts were signed with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. "The efforts by outside third parties who have their own financial or political agendas s a direct challenge to the future of the Indian Gaming industry and all California tribes, whether they have gaming operations or not," Anthony Miranda, chair of CNIGA, said. "CNIGA views these efforts as a direct assault on the sovereign right of all tribal governments throughout the country to negotiate gaming compacts on a government-to-government basis."
All four compacts were negotiated with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and ratified by both houses of the legislature this summer. Miranda said that while it is CNIGA policy not to get involved with individual compacts or negotiations, the organization took a position on this matter because the compacts were already approved and overturning them would hurt all tribes, particularly poorer tribes.
The compact amendments call for the tribes to annually pay $9 million into the state's Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, which provides money to non-gaming tribes. The $9 million is more than double what the four tribes currently pay into the fund.
"I personally urge Californians who are approached to sign petitions seeking to overturn these compacts to reject those efforts and support the tribes' increased payments to the state for vitally needed services," Miranda said. "If these compacts are overturned, it will remove hundreds of millions of dollars from the 2007-2008 budget awaiting state Senate approval."
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians finally has its new Tribal Gaming Compact with the state. In early September, the tribe signed a "letter of agreement" with Gov. Schwarzenegger that was then approved by the California Assembly in a near-unanimous vote. The tribe can now add as many as 5,500 slot machines at its property.
Like the memorandums of agreement that the Agua Caliente, Morongo, Pechanga and Sycuan tribes signed, the letter of agreement states that the San Manuel will provide yearly financial audits to the state. Unlike the memorandums, the letter does not touch on problem gambling or child and spousal support issues.
The Viejas Resort and Casino has revealed plans for an $800 million expansion. The new casino and resort are scheduled for completion in 2012 and will be located adjacent to the existing Viejas Casino on the Viejas Reservation off of I-8 east of San Diego. Viejas Tribal Chair Bobby L. Barrett said: "Our tribe has a gaming agreement with the state that has been in place since 2004. This agreement has worked well and has benefited our tribal members, residents of San Diego County and state taxpayers. Under terms of this agreement, Viejas plans to enter into negotiations with San Diego County over certain local issues. Our track record—including a casino expansion in 2005—demonstrates Viejas' commitment to negotiating in good faith and being a good neighbor that creates local jobs and gives back to the local community. We look forward to working with County Supervisor Dianne Jacob and others as we negotiate a similar understanding for this resort and casino expansion."
The Caribbean
New Indian Gaming resort and casino properties could be on the way to St. Croix and the Bahamas. The Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Connecticut, which owns Foxwoods and the Foxwoods Development Co., has begun the early planning of major destination properties on these U.S. Virgin Islands, but the process is still very preliminary. The tribe owns 600 acres on St. Croix and has already filed a licensing application. If construction comes to fruition, the resort could include a hotel, casino, marina, golf course and possibly condos. As of CEM's press time, details on the Bahamas project were not available.
New York
According to federal authorities, Turning Stone Casino and Resort in Verona, N.Y., is not a casino—at least not for tax purposes. So when Verona town officials illegally deemed it as one, it made the Oneida Indian Nation's back-tax bill for the property about $20 million. The town argues that it reached this total by assessing the Turning Stone buildings, but did not take into account the gambling inside. The tribe says the assessed value—and tax bill—should be $0 because the buildings are essentially worthless without the gambling. The casino land has been on the town's tax roll for the last two years, awaiting entry into federal trust.
Oklahoma
If you want a long slot session, head to Oklahoma—new regulations for Class II machines will soon make your dollar last longer. It's part of an effort to make the difference between Class II and Class III machines more pronounced. Other changes include the required display of a Bingo card; a requirement that at least two people play on a Class II bank at a time (to be more like traditional Bingo, where players play against each other); and adding more time between when the spin button is pushed and the reels start spinning.