The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) on Thursday announced it will revise casino regulations that tribal leaders say are too intrusive.

In a statement, NIGC chairman Phil Hogen, a Bush administration appointee, said he is forming a tribal advisory committee to re-examine the minimum internal control standards, also known as MICS. "Meaningful tribal input in the early stage of this process will facilitate the prompt attention needed to correct and update the MICS," he said.

The MICS were implemented during the Clinton administration and the most recent changes were finalized by Clinton appointees in June 2002. Covering everything from the management of casino cash to background checks of employees, they seek to establish a nationwide set of standards for the $14.5 billion and growing Indian gaming industry.

But industry leaders say the MICS are an unwarranted expansion of NIGC's authority. Although they were developed in consultation with Indian Country, many tribes oppose them. The National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), a trade group representing more than 150 tribes, has called for their repeal.

Bush administration officials have heard those complaints and the creation of the advisory committee reflects the need to address them. The committee will consider amendments to correct any deficiencies in the MICS, including new gaming technologies.

"If it needs to be revised, it will be revised," NIGC commissioner Chuck Choney said at the annual National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) convention last November. "If it needs to be deleted, it will be deleted. We are going to work with you."

The objections to MICS center on the competing sovereigns responsible for Indian gaming. Tribal casinos are triply regulated by tribal, state and federal authorities.

Many tribal leaders strongly feel that Class III gaming, consisting of slot machines, card games and related games, should be governed by agreements between tribal and state governments. "It's a matter for tribal-state compacts not an NIGC rule," said Mark Van Norman, executive director of NIGA, at the NCAI convention.

NIGA and several tribes have supported a legal challenge to the standards. They backed an Arizona tribe that argued the rules were not permitted by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

In the closely-watched case, a Department of Interior judicial official agreed with the tribes. "NIGC is not achieving the carefully orchestrated purpose of the IGRA because it impinges on the very sovereignty of the tribes and the states," Judge Candida S. Steel of the Office of Hearings and Appeals ruled in May 2002.

But Steel's opinion was only advisory in nature, and it was rejected by outgoing Clinton administration appointees a month later, right before the latest MICS revisions were finalized.

Hogen ended up settling part of the dispute with the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT). In September, he reduced a fine imposed on the tribe from $20,000 to $2,000. Tribal officials agreed to a MICS-related audit that they had interrupted but preserved a challenge in the federal courts.

Last year, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, introduced a bill that would affirm NIGC's authority to impose the MICS. Van Norman said tribes oppose the provision. The bill failed to make it out of committee late in the session.

The advisory committee will be composed of federal officials and tribal leaders. NIGC is accepting nominations up until February 9. Nominations can be made through the agency.

Relevant Documents:
Minimum Internal Control Standards; Final Rule (6/27)

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