Indian Gaming

Writer thinks it's time to place "limits" on the tribal gaming industry:

With billions of dollars at stake, you might think the Indian gaming industry is more heavily regulated than it actually is.

Originally designed as a way to compensate Indian tribes for their mistreatment at the hands of the U.S. government, it's become something of a shell game. Those who follow Indian gaming issues cheerfully recall anecdotes involving lawyers in limousines showing up at tribal headquarters with offers to help set up casinos and other operations, for a fee of course.

In 1988 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The purpose of the act was to create a regulatory framework for the establishment of casinos and other gambling establishments on Indian lands. The thinking at the time was that the influx of revenue from such operations would provide sufficient capital to allow tribes to become economically self-sufficient or, at the very least, establish a pool of capital that could be used for investments that would create jobs and alleviate the tremendous poverty on reservations throughout the United States.

In the ensuing years, it was generally left to the discretion of the U.S. Department of the Interior whether a particular tribe can set up a casino and how many they can operate. Unfortunately, the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has responsibility for Indian gaming, has failed to act in ways that are in the best interests of the U.S. taxpayers and, it would seem, the tribes themselves.

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Peter Roff: Indian Gaming Needs More Oversight (Politix 4/24)