Opinion: Tribal casinos not good for Nevada

Tuesday, December 12, 2006  

"The 2005 Legislature did the right thing by raising gaming taxes in a long-overdue move to increase state general fund revenues. Elemental fairness demands that our mega-casinos pay their fair share of state and local taxes. But there's another gaming-control issue worth considering: out-of-state Indian casinos operated by Nevada gaming licensees. Although Nevada Gaming Commission regulations require those privileged licensees to operate "in the best interests of the people of the state of Nevada," I question whether some of them are adhering to this fundamental requirement. I refer specifically to the highly profitable Station Casinos organization of Las Vegas, which operates the Thunder Valley tribal casino on I-80 east of Sacramento.

Obviously, the Thunder Valley operation siphons off thousands of gamblers who might otherwise cross the Sierra Nevada to try their luck at Reno and/or Lake Tahoe casinos. As a former gaming-control spokesman, I'm convinced that Thunder Valley costs this state millions of dollars and jeopardizes the survival of several struggling Northern Nevada casinos. This is clearly NOT in the best interests of the people of the state of Nevada.

So I respectfully ask you, the new attorney general and the '07 Legislature to look into this apparent violation of state gaming regulations. When it can be proven that a Nevada licensee is costing us money - and that would be easy to prove through testimony by UNR economics professors who study the issue - our licensees should be forced to choose between Nevada and their out-of-state gaming interests. That's how it was when I worked for the state in the mid-1960s, and I think you should reinstitute such a policy.

Get the Story:
Guy Farmer: An open letter to Governor-elect Jim Gibbons (The Nevada Appeal 12/10)