This year’s election proved to be a mixed bag for the Indian gaming
industry. Several states had gaming-related referenda on the ballot, the
outcomes of some of which will have definite impact on Indian country. Here
is a brief look at some of those results, followed by a glance at
developments in Minnesota and Upstate New York.

WISCONSIN

In a non-binding referendum, voters in the Badger State approved a proposal
to allow the construction of an $800 million tribally-owned casino at a
greyhound track in Kenosha, a suburb of Milwaukee. Approximately 58 percent
of those casting ballots voted “yes.”

Estimates say that the 223-acre facility, to be owned by the Menominee
tribe, would take in some $500 million annually, of which 3 percent ($15
million) would go to local governments. The tribe also pledged to make an
annual $2.5 million payment to a local school district, a one-time $5
million donation to area charities, and to fund a program for problem
gamblers to the tune of $150,000 per year.

The Menominee casino would employ some 3,000 people, generating an annual
payroll of some $138 million. Through a seven-year management agreement,
the casino would be developed and operated by the Mohegan Tribe, whose
Connecticut casino is among the world’s largest and most lucrative.

The measure was opposed by the Forest County Potawatomi tribe, which
operates an existing casino in Milwaukee. The usual bevy of state and
federal officials must still sign off on the proposed casino.

OKLAHOMA

Oklahomans voted in favor of Question 712 by a margin of 59.5 percent to
40.5 percent. In addition to creating a statewide lottery and establishing
three racinos, the measure allows for Class III gaming to take place at
Indian casinos. It also gives the state regulatory authority over tribal
casinos for the first time and provides for revenue sharing; the state gets
4 percent of the first $10 million in slot machine revenue. State funds
will be earmarked for education.

MICHIGAN

Some 59 percent of Michigan’s voters approved an amendment to the state
Constitution, called Proposal 1, requiring all future proposals for slot
machines to gain approval from both local voters and the state legislature.
The state’s existing Indian casinos were exempted from the amendment,
allowing them to continue to operate without being subjected to retroactive
voter approval.

WASHINGTON STATE

In the Pacific Northwest, 61 percent of voters rejected a proposal to end
the slot machine exclusivity enjoyed by Washington state’s Indian casinos.
This will, of course, prevent commercial competitors from attempting to
take market share from Washington’s tribally-owned casinos. The proposal,
known as Initiative 892, would have permitted more than 18,000 slot
machines to be put into play in restaurants, taverns, bingo halls, card
rooms and bowling alleys across the state.

CALIFORNIA

Two much-ballyhooed gaming proposals went down in flames as Golden State
voters soundly rejected both Proposition 68 and Proposition 70. Both
initiatives would have allowed for expanded commercial competition in
California to the likely detriment of the state’s still-exploding Indian
gaming industry, which did suffer defeat in that tribal casinos will not be
allowed to expand into urban centers.

CONFLICTED INTERESTS?

Minnesota did not sponsor a gaming-related referendum this election season,
but the Gopher State remains in the news anyway. On the heels of Republican
Gove. Tim Pawlenty’s continued aggressive attempts to force revenue
“sharing” upon the state’s gaming tribes, comes an interesting report from
the Associated Press.

On Nov. 6, the AP reported that Ron Eibensteiner, state Republican Party
chairman, is also chairman of the Board of California-based Spectre Gaming,
which manufactures slot machines. As Pawlenty threatens to bring commercial
gaming to Minnesota unless the state’s gaming tribes pay their “fair share”
of tribal casino proceeds to the state, his party chief is revealed to have
a direct interest in the manufacturing segment of the commercial gaming
industry.

According to the AP, Eibensteiner claims that Spectre has neither past nor
present business deals with Minnesota tribes and none are in the works.
Likewise, the company has no intention of selling gaming devices in
Minnesota, Eibensteiner told the AP.

Eibensteiner who has (via a radio advertisement) publicly supported
Pawlenty’s attempts to extort Minnesota’s gaming tribes, informed the AP of
his concerns about “perception.” He added that he intends to resign from
Spectre’s board as soon as replacements can be found.

Hmmm. Republican Vice President Dick Cheney’s former employer, the oil
giant Halliburton, gets lucrative multi-year no-bid contracts in Iraq.
Two-faced Republican lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon allegedly
bilk several tribal governments out of some $66 million by playing both
ends against the middle. And now Republicans in Minnesota threaten to break
compacts negotiated in good faith – with the result being to either take
tribal monies to which the state has no entitlement, or to position
themselves to potentially cash in on the commercial gaming boom that may
result if the tribes don’t capitulate.

Coincidence? Maybe. But it appears that something is indeed rotten in the
GOP

SENECA-CAYUGAS OFFER SETTLEMENT DEAL

The general council of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma has proposed a
deal to settle the tribe’s outstanding land claim against the state of New
York in return for a potentially lucrative casino in the Catskill region,
not far from metropolitan New York City.

The Oklahoma tribe and the Cayuga Nation of New York are both winning
parties in the Cayuga land claim case, which was decided in favor of the
two tribes in 2001. A federal judge’s award of S247.9 million to the tribes
remains under appeal at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

Under the tribal proposal, the Seneca-Cayuga would pay Albany up to $350
million to cover whatever damage the state may have to pay to the Cayuga
Nation if the land claim is resolved in court. The Seneca-Cayuga would also
collect and remit state sales tax on all transactions with non-Indians.

Late last year, the Cayuga Nation proposed a separate settlement agreement,
which fell apart over the summer. Neither tribe’s settlement proposal
includes the other. Both are hopefully of scoring a Catskill casino.

Officials in Cayuga County, part of which lies within the land claim area,
have repeatedly stated that they will not accept any settlement agreement
that does not cover both tribes. According to the Oct. 31 edition of the
Auburn Citizen, state officials said that there exists “no imminent
settlement agreement” with the Oklahoma tribe.