Tribes want federal casino oversight restricted

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2002

The leader of the nation's largest organization of Indian casinos on Wednesday called for the federal government to revoke hundreds of Clinton-era mandates deemed obtrusive to tribal sovereignty.

Oversight of the $10 billion and growing industry is best left to tribal nations, argued Ernie Stevens, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA). The organization represents more than 150 casino-operating tribes.

"Indian people are primary regulators and the best regulators," he said. "Indian Country has honest, hard working operations."

Speaking at a sovereignty conference in Oklahoma that was attended by federal gaming regulators whom he alternately praised and picked at, Stevens pointed specifically to mandates implemented during the Clinton administration that are currently being expanded. One set describes how tribes are to operate their casinos on a daily basis while others would require casinos to adhere to environmental, health and safety standards.

Commonly grouped together as minimum internal control standards, or MICS, the regulations have come under fire by tribes who say they go too far. NIGA supports an Arizona tribe that is challenging the rules in a dispute being closely watched throughout Indian Country.

Despite the tribes' aversion to additional layers of oversight, federal involvement is not going to disappear. The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) was set up to ensure tribal casino operations comply with the law.

But the law, admitted NIGC Chairman Montie R. Deer, contains "gray areas." He also spoke at the sovereignty conference and outlined the difficulties of dealing with tribal, federal and state governments.

"The principle problem is Congress' effort to allocate and enforce responsibility among three sovereigns," he said.

Deer, a Clinton appointee who will be leaving his post this summer, said resolving oversight is perhaps the single most important issue. "NIGC has to deal daily with how to allocate regulatory responsibility," he noted.

But he supports the MICS rules, which were based on the Clinton administration's interpretation of a gray area in federal law. Late last month, he and commissioner Teresa Poust, another Clinton appointee, overturned an internal ruling that said the NIGC, by enforcing the standards, "impinges on the very sovereignty of the tribes and the states."

And as NIGC's current set of leaders, including commissioner Liz Homer, head out the door, they are finalizing new mandates. Publication of revised MICS and environmental, health and safety standards is expected this month.

Additionally, the commission has just finalized a hotly contested rule which relaxes the definition of certain casino games. NIGA and other trade organizations, including the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, lobbied persuasively for the changes, although nearly two dozen states and some tribes raised objections.

Relevant Links:
National Indian Gaming Association - http://www.indiangaming.org
National Indian Gaming Commission - http://www.nigc.gov