Indian Gaming > Opinion: Interior bungled California compacts

February 5, 2008

Opinion: Interior bungled California compacts

"On February 5, 2008, Californians will vote on whether four tribes can triple the number of slot machines in their casinos, from 8,000 to 25,000.

But, no matter who wins, the losers will sue. And they will have good arguments on their side.

Opponents, primarily unions and competing tribal casinos and racetracks, believe this legal mess was created by underhanded attempts to guarantee that these four tribes would get their slots, even if the voters disapproved.

I believe the problems were the result of federal and state bureaucrats following what they thought was the letter of the law, without using common sense.

These compacts were big news. Anyone in the Dept. of Interior with common sense would have treated them with special care. And the Secretary should have returned them to California, or at least asked questions whether the approvals by the State Legislature were still valid. Even after screwing up for 45 days, the Secretary should have done something, such as ask for guidance from the courts. Instead, he announced that the compacts had been deemed approved.

In the uproar that followed, someone noted that federal law requires more than an announcement by the Secretary. To be official, the Secretary's approval must be published in the Federal Register. So, all the Secretary had to do was not publish his approval until after the February election.

On December 19, this Bush appointee published his approval in the Federal Register.

When asked why he did such a bonehead thing, his reply was pure bureaucratese: Once deemed approved, the law required him to publish the approval."

Get the Story:
I. Nelson Rose: Compacts, Elections and Bureaucrats-Oh My! (Poker Player Magazine 2/4)