Senate hearing on off-reservation casino bill

Monday, April 4, 2005  

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on S.113, a bill that would make it harder for a California tribe to open an off-reservation casino in the Bay Area.

The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians received 9.5 acres in the city of San Pablo under a Congressional rider. The rider backdated the transaction to October 17, 1988, so that the tribe would not have to get state and federal approval to use the land for gaming.

S.113, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), would change the date of the acquisition in order to force the tribe to go through the lengthy and costly land-into-trust process. City and county officials in the area are voting on resolution to back the bill.

The rider withstood a series of court challenges and was defended by the Department of Justice. A federal judge said Congress could change the dates of trust land acquisitions at will.

The witness list for tomorrow's hearing has not yet been posted online but is expected to include Feinstein and George Skibine, the acting deputy assistant secretary for policy and economic development at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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