Indian Gaming Now

Interior Department Obama Administration

Washburn Confirmed as AS-IA

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Sep 25 2012

On Friday, the U.S. Senate approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Kevin Washburn as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs by unanimous consent.  (Congrats, Kevin!)

"As we continue to strengthen the integrity of the nation's government-to-government relationship with federally-recognized Indian tribes and empower Native American and Alaska Native communities, Kevin Washburn will be an outstanding addition to our leadership team and a vital asset for President Obama's initiatives in Indian Country," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.

Steve & Kathryn on Obama Administration in Latest Issue of GLRE

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Sep 23 2010
Kathryn and Steve wrote an article on "The Obama Administration's 'Path Forward on Indian Gaming Policy' and What It Signals for Off-Reservation Gaming" in the current issue of the Gaming Law Review and Economics.  The cite for the article is 14 Gaming L. Rev.&Econ. 449-54 (2010).  Send us an email if you're interested in the article.

Steve & Kathryn on Obama Administration in Latest Issue of GLRE

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Aug 23 2010
In the latest issue of the Gaming Law Review&Economics, we have a short article on the emerging federal policy on Indian gaming and land-into-trust issues.  Titled, "The Obama Administration's 'Path Forward on Indian Gaming Policy' and What it Signals for 'Off-Reservation' Gaming," our article summarizes Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's June 2010 memo outlining the Department's approach to Indian gaming.  We also offer our thoughts on what the Salazar memo signals for the future in these five areas: policymaking, consideration of off-reservation applications, revisiting the "commutable distance" test, IGRA's public policy goals, and government-to-government relations.

Interior Department Details Approach to Indian Gaming

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Jun 29 2010
Yesterday, the Department of Interior released Secretary Salazar's memo detailing the Department's approach to Indian gaming generally, and to gaming on newly acquired lands specifically.  Here's our take on the Secretary's memo.  First, a lot of folks, both inside and outside Indian Country, are relieved to finally see some action on Indian gaming issues from the Obama administration. It's been 18 months of almost total silence on Indian gaming, one of the most important issues for many tribes across the U.S.

Back from Prairie Band Casino & Resort

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
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

Will the Obama Administration Be Open to Off-Reservation Gaming?

Posted by Kathryn Rand | Filed under:
Dec 9 2009
For some time now, experts and insiders have been predicting that the Interior Department under the Obama administration will remove at least some of the obstacles to so-called off-reservation gaming put in place under Bush.  Steve and I have made a similar prediction, though we've said that we think a compromise is much more likely than sweeping reform.  In other words, we expect there to be a lessening of restrictions on gaming on newly acquired lands, not a complete removal of those restrictions.  Off-reservation gaming is a politically loaded issue, and we think it unlikely that either the executive or legislative branches will throw open the door to tribes to pursue gaming on newly acquired lands.

A “Bolt from the Blue” from the Supreme Court

Posted by Kathryn and Steve | Filed under:
Feb 27 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court has laid down the law once again for Indian Country, holding that the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA) does not authorize the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction as of the date the IRA was enacted. The decision has major implications, as is discussed in the Boston Globe, in which Steve is quoted.

The 6-3 decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, No. 07-526 (Feb. 24, 2009) throws into doubt previous decisions by the Secretary to take land into trust for recently recognized tribes, including the Narragansetts in Rhode Island (who were the subject of the Court decision) and the Mashpee Wampanoag in Massachusetts (who have been hoping to build a $1 billion casino in Middleborough).

Carcieri concerned the Narragansetts’ argument that 31 acres of land it owns in Charleston, Rhode Island, should be placed in trust. Following an administrative decision that came down on the side of the Secretary, the state sued. Both a federal district court and the First Circuit found in favor of the tribe, but the Supreme Court reversed.

The Court’s analysis for the most part turned on its reading of the IRA’s statutory language, and the related application of basic principles of administrative law. The IRA authorizes the Secretary to take land into trust for the benefit of a “recognized Indian Tribe now under Federal jurisdiction.” The question of whether “now” means in 1934, or at the time the Secretary acts, had been held to be ambiguous enough by a lower court to merit deference to the Secretary under the Chevron doctrine (which requires a court to defer to an agency interpretation under such circumstances)—as had been the case for the last 75 years.