Draft tribal gaming bill introduced
Tribal Online Gaming Act of 2012 proposes 1% of GGR shared between tribes that have opted out of egaming.
Native American groups moved to protect their interests ahead of state-by-state egaming regulation yesterday when the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) revealed the first draft tribal gaming bill.
Entitled the Tribal Online Gaming Act of 2012, the bill is designed to help ensure tribes are well positioned to benefit from legal online gambling in the US, without compromising their revenues and sovereignty. The proposals were unanimously approved by a number of tribal leaders gathered at the National Indian Gaming Association’s (NIGA) legislative summit in Washington D.C.
At the hearing, the chairman of the committee, Daniel Akaka explained the draft was “intended to further the dialog with tribes, my colleagues in the House and Senate and other affected stakeholders”.
The draft bill calls on federal government to implement nationwide laws concerning the regulation of online gaming. Tribal groups have long opposed state-by-state legislation due to fears their interests would not be considered and their existing bricks and mortar revenues would suffer.
It proposes that an Office of Tribal Online Gaming is established, and that tribes that choose to participate in online gaming would be required to place 1% of gross gaming revenue in an escrow account. These funds would then be disbursed in equal amounts to the tribes that opted out of online gaming.
Currently just two states “ Nevada and Delaware “ have passed online gambling legislation, although several other states including New Jersey are making progress. A number of proposed federal bills in the last two years from Senators Barney Frank and Joe Barton have so far struggled to gain cross-party traction, although Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl are thought to be close to finalising and unveiling a bill which could be introduced in Congress later this year.
Much of the Tribal Online Gaming Act of 2012 mirrors what has been proposed in other bills. Only tribes in “good standing” with the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) would receive a licence, and would only be able to offer egaming to residents aged 21 and over w ithin their state borders.
Bruce ‘Two Dogs’ Bozsum, chairman of the Mohegan Tribe of Uncasville in Connecticut, said at the hearing yesterday: “Tribes should be extremely hesitant to entrust their economic futures to the tender mercies of the 50 states, many of whom are still in financial crises and looking for new sources of revenue.”
Ernie Stevens Jr, chairman of NIGA, added that while the resolutions were unanimously adopted by NIGA and NCAI, Indian country was not consulted on the details and that “concerns remain”.
“As we continue to analyse the draft bill, many concerns remain. What I have always made clear is that NIGA will not waver from our mission, which is to protect tribal sovereignty and the rights of all tribes “ as constitutionally acknowledged governments “ to conduct gaming to help rebuild our communities. The current draft unfortunately falls short of meeting our principles. So we have work to do.”