Indian Gaming Now

State officials in Alabama are working to shut down "illegal" gaming in the state.  Why the quotes?  Because they're also targeting tribal casinos operating Class II electronic bingo machines, which the state charges are illegal slot machines.  Governor Bob Riley formed the high-profile and troubled Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling in 2008.  Just last month, the Task Force's "commander," David Barber, resigned from his post after he got lucky in the Mississippi Choctaw's tribal casino, winning $2300.  Barber's outing as a gambler once again brought to the fore charges that Riley himself has accepted political donations from Mississippi tribes with casinos, a charge the governor denies.  After Barber's resignation, Riley appointed long-time Mobile dist

Kathryn's quoted in this Cape Cod Times article on the politics of compact negotiations and tribal-state relations.  In Massachusetts, as the Mashpee Wampanoag continue to pursue Class III gaming, the tribe and the governor are on different sides of another issue -- a wind farm in Nantucket Sound.

A wind farm, of course, is not related to gaming, and under IGRA should not be an issue that enters into compact negotiations.  But politics, unlike law, is not easily compartmentalized into relevant and irrelevant considerations.  Here's what Kathryn said about the possible impact of the tribe's and governor's difference of opinion:

The Cape Cod Times reports that the Mashpee Wampanoag may be looking at a new community partner for an off-reservation casino: Fall River, a community hard hit by unemployment.

An editorial in the Tampa Tribune takes Florida's legislature to task for failing to approve the revised compact negotiated between the Seminoles and Gov. Charlie Crist.  And rightly so -- as we've said numerous times, Florida's continued obstructionism flies in the face of IGRA's requirements and Congress's intent, not to mention tribal sovereignty and respectful government-to-government relations.

But it seems to always be about money, rather than legal duties, mutual respect, or even what's right.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a decision in the much-anticipated case about corporate spending on political campaigns.  The facts centered on the infamous "Hillary: The Movie," but the case raised significant issues about campaign financing generally and the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

By 5-4 vote, the landmark decision overturned federal laws that limited corporations' ability to fund political campaign ads.  The Court's decision also will allow labor unions to spend more on political campaigns.  The Court upheld a ban prohibiting corporations and unions from directly contributing funds to candidates for any use.

To follow up on our last post, Tuesday's surprise was that Republican Scott Brown was elected to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts.  Brown took 52 percent of the vote in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, an upset over Democrat Martha Coakley.  Brown, a state senator, became known for driving around in a pickup truck and cast himself as the "people's" candidate, especially on issues related to the economy.  The election, of course, speaks to public satisfaction with the Obama administration, but from where we sit, it eventually will speak to the status of tribes and tribal sovereignty in Massachusetts and across the country.

Voters in Massachusetts will elect a new senator today to fill the remaining term of Ted Kennedy, which expires in November 2012.  Most commentators have cast the election as about national health care reform, but folks in Massachusetts know that the outcome will affect a host of other issues.  One of those issues is intergovernmental relations with tribes, including Indian gaming.  Here's what Kathryn had to say:

"Typically our officials have known very little about tribes, about the law that relates to tribes, and about good policy that relates to Indian gaming.  Much of the controversy about Indian gaming reflects that lack of understanding."