Mar
2
2010
Fans of constitutional law will recall the Shreveport Rate Case, a 1914 U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded the reach of congressional power under the Commerce Clause. The case dealt with state rates for railway service in Texas and Louisiana, and Texas' efforts to favor Texas railways over those that serviced Shreveport. Well, Texas is in the middle of another kind of market competition, this time between riverboat casinos in Shreveport and tribal casinos in Oklahoma.Kathryn Rand's blog
Ruling in Rincon Case?
Feb
27
2010
Revenue sharing provisions in tribal-state compacts are a legal "grey" area. IGRA is very clear that states can't tax tribal gaming, or charge tribes a fee to engage in Class III gaming. But the Interior Secretary has taken the position that tribes and states can negotiate revenue sharing provisions, in which the state gets, well, a fee -- but the tribe gets something from the state, too. Typically, what the tribe gets is some form of exclusivity (like the state's promise not to legalize commercial casinos) or some additional benefit (like new games, or additional machines). The limits on this approach are less than clear.Oil & Gaming in North Dakota
Feb
24
2010
Here in North Dakota, our economy tends to go up when the U.S. economy is down, and vice versa. We currently are in an oil boom thanks to the Bakken formation in western North Dakota. We've got millionaires still driving their beat-up pick up trucks out near Williston (North Dakotans are modest by nature; it's rude to show off one's good fortune, and besides, that old truck still runs most of the time). And along with Wyoming, our state is lucky enough to have a budget surplus, prompting the executive director of the National Governors Association to say, "We all ought to move to North Dakota."What About City of Sherrill?
Feb
20
2010
When Kathryn was in Kansas last week presenting on the future of Indian gaming, the question was posed about the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 decision in City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation. And a good question it was, as the case added a new wrinkle to determining whether land qualifies as "Indian lands" under IGRA. NIGC Understaffed . . . Again
Feb
17
2010
The National Indian Gaming Commission is once again understaffed, with only two members -- and one of those an interim Chair. Commissioner Norm DesRosiers' three-year term has ended, leaving the NIGC with interim Chair George Skibine and brand-new Commissioner Steffani Cochran.With the exception of the few weeks that DesRosiers and Cochran overlapped, this once again leaves the NIGC with only two of the three commissioner positions filled -- a situation that has become par for the course, as one commissioner position has been open for more than two years.
Back from Prairie Band Casino & Resort
Feb
13
2010
Kathryn's back from Mayetta, Kansas, where she presented at the 10th Annual Native Nations Law Symposium. The Symposium, sponsored by the University of Kansas School of Law, was hosted by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation at their newly remodeled and updated Prairie Band Casino&Resort. Kathryn's presentation was "Indian Gaming Now: Law, Politics, and Policy in the Next Decade." In the presentation, after laying out the history of two decades of tribal gaming under IGRA and the current state of the industry, Kathryn discussed the likely future developments in some key areas -- the economy, tribal-state compacting, revenue sharing A "Switch in Time to Save the Dime" in Florida?
Feb
8
2010
Constitutional law students will remember the "switch in time that saved the nine" -- the U.S. Supreme Court's abrupt turn-around on its approach to federal economic legislation in the 1930s that staved off FDR's efforts to pack the Court with additional justices who would support his "New Deal" legislation. Are we seeing a "switch in time to save the dime" on gambling policy in Florida? The state legislature has obstructed efforts to reach a new compact with the Seminoles, but the legislature's anti-gambling stance may give way to economic pressure.