"Seven years later, approval of State Question 712 continues to pay off nicely for Oklahoma Indian tribes, and for the state.

SQ 712, on the ballot in November 2004, asked Oklahomans whether they wanted to allow tribes that had compacts with the state to offer faster electronic gaming machines, including video poker. Voters overwhelmingly said yes.

Approval of the state question triggered a rapid expansion of tribal gaming that continues today and, unlike in other parts of the country, doesn’t appear to show any sign of slowing down.

A report issued last week by California economist Alan Meister, who has long tracked tribal gaming, showed that Indian gaming in Oklahoma generated in excess of $3.1 billion in 2009, an increase of 7 percent over the previous year and second only to California. Across the rest of the country, tribal gaming revenues fell in 2009 for the first time since such tracking began.

The soft economy got some of the blame for the nationwide trend. Oklahoma’s economy was hurting in 2009, too, and we’re still trying to climb out of the Great Recession, but that hasn’t affected the majority of our casinos."

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Editorial: 2004 state question paying dividends for Oklahoma (The Oklahoman 3/7)

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