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.

The NIGC's staffing deserves more attention.  Public perceptions of the independent regulatory agency are closely linked to public perceptions of Indian gaming and whether the industry is well regulated.  The NIGC has been accused of being understaffed (true), underfunded (some truth, although under IGRA tribes provide funding to the NIGC), and a "paper tiger" in terms of regulatory strength (depends on your perspective, we suppose, but there's no doubt that there are teeth to the NIGC's regulation of Indian gaming).

It's in tribes' best interests to have the NIGC fully staffed and able to fulfill its role under IGRA.  Commissioners need to have expertise in a range of complicated and complex areas, including federal Indian law, tribal law, gaming regulation, and intergovernmental relations.  The NIGC can't be seen as a puppet of tribes (and in reality it never has been, but perceptions are important), but the commissioners and staff can't fall prey to the headiness of federal power, either -- the NIGC must give substance, not lip service, to its government-to-government approach to tribal nations.

Read more about the current commissioner and interim chair and the NIGC's government-to-government policy