RIGHT Act is the Right Move as Wisconsin Struggles to Limit Off-Reservation Gaming
(July 27, 2006—Madison, WI)— Yesterday, with an overwhelming 27-9 vote the House Committee on Resources advanced greater controls on the expansion of off-reservation gaming with the passage of the Restricting Indian Gaming to Homelands of Tribes (RIGHT) Act.
“Reservation shopping, has become the tool for massive expansion of tribal gaming with no less than nine off-reservation proposals in our state alone,” said Brian J. Nemoir, Executive Director of Enough!. “Enough! is pleased with the committee passage of the RIGHT Act, and believes while this key piece of legislation advances at the federal level it provides a critical call-to-action for both local and state officials .”
The RIGHT Act, authored by Chairman Richard Pombo (R-California) and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), closes the loophole allowed within Section 20 of The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) providing tribes the opportunity to locate casinos on non-reservation trust lands, a practice commonly referred to as “reservation shopping.” The RIGHT Act has five key components:
§ Re-writes Section 20 of IGRA, prohibiting tribes to place in trust any additional lands that aren’t contiguous to its reservation. Currently, tribes place desirable land in trust, without consideration of any relationship to the reservation. Trust lands can then be used to locate off-reservation casinos, pending a federal and state approval process.
§ Provides local communities a seat at the table during the compact negotiation process. In Wisconsin, the governor and the tribes negotiate compacts and local communities are shut out of the process.
§ The Secretary of Interior must certify that a facility would not be detrimental to the surrounding community or nearby Indian tribes and be in the best interest of the surrounding community. Once the Secretary of the Interior Certifies:
o The Governor of the State must concur with the Secretary's findings.
o The State legislature must concur with the Secretary's findings.
o Nearby Indian tribes must concur with the Secretary's findings.
§ Prohibit attempts to establish off-reservation casinos outside of the state were the tribe presently resides. Such practices are becoming more common, with the affluent and politically connected Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribe partnering with the state-based Menominee Tribe in a much publicized effort to located an off-reservation casino in Kenosha.
§ Provides tribes the opportunity to create “Indian Gaming Zones” where a tribe can host a gaming facility for another tribe on already existing reservation land allowing gaming. Such co-location would be subject to state approval.
“With a Governor all too quick to accept the millions of dollars in campaign contributions from various tribes, while at the same time vetoing a bi-partisan bill allowing legislative oversight of off-reservation casinos, their exists a critical need for the RIGHT Act,” said Nemoir. “The RIGHT Act provides checks-and-balances by inserting both the community and legislature into the tribal gaming approval process, while closing the unintended and abused off-reservation approval process.”
Earlier this summer, Governor Doyle vetoed legislation overwhelmingly passed by both houses proving a common sense system of checks-and-balances by allowing legislative approval of Bureau of Indian Affairs-approved off-reservation requests. In vetoing legislative approval, Doyle has kept in place an approval process allowing him sole approval of off-reservation applications. Doyle, has harvested and/or been the benefactor of over $1 million in tribal gaming related contributions over the past four years.
It was recently reported that Doyle attended a campaign fundraiser in Kenosha hosted by interests desiring an off-reservation casino in the area in which he reaped $171,000. Of the 28 attendees, ten contributed the maximum of $10,000 to Doyle’s reelection effort. In fact of Doyle’s contributors, the Troha family which is partnering with the two tribes looking to operate off-reservation Kenosha casino, is the single largest contributor to the Doyle’s reelection having committed $237,000 since 2002. Kenosha off-reservation gaming interests have contributed nearly $500,000 to Governor Doyle’s re-election effort since 2002.
“Committee passage of the RIGHT Act is encouraging step in the right direction, and hopefully will lead to a full vote in the house in the not-so-distant future,” said Nemoir.