Long-time chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission Phil Hogen has announced his retirement, though no specific date for his departure from the NIGC has been set.  He will get a nice reception on Friday, Oct. 2, though, marking his 25 years of service in the federal government, including nine years with the NIGC.

George Skibine, an experienced BIA official, will serve as interim chair.  Skibine similarly has a long record of federal service, including wearing many hats -- often at the same time -- at the BIA.  He has been the head of the BIA's Office of Indian Gaming Management.  Last year, when Carl Artman stepped down, Skibine took his place as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.  He also acted as the agency's deputy assistant secretary for policy and economic development since 2004.  And for several months during the Bush administration, Skibine served as acting principal deputy assistant secretary, the second-highest post at the BIA.

Skibine's role as interim NIGC chair may hold some significant clues as to how the Obama administration will move forward on tribal gaming issues.  Skibine has testified before Congress regarding off-reservation gaming and the land-into-trust process.  His prior testimony stands in contrast to the infamous January 2008 guidance memo issued by Artman.  In 2005, Skibine reiterated the stance of the Interior Department that IGRA's "best interests" exception does not contain any express limitation on distance, meaning that nothing in IGRA required that the off-reservation land in question be anywhere near a tribe's existing reservation, and that the Interior Secretary's authority was limited to determining the two-part test: was gaming on the land in the best interests of the tribe and its members, and would it be detrimental to the surrounding community?  (Don't forget that the state governor has "veto" authority over the Secretary's determination under the best interests exception.)  At the time, though, Skibine did note the growing political controversy over so-called "reservation shopping"  -- a controversy that seems to have only heated up since then.

Read coverage in Indian Country Today

Read Skibine's 2005 congressional testimony (S. Hrg. 109-92, Trust Lands, May 18, 2005)