INDIAN GAMING Tribes gather to tout industry benefits

Opponents countered the argument by saying gaming creates compulsive gambling and alcoholism.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
DENVER -- Representatives of 23 American Indian tribes gathered here Tuesday for a summit with the Western governors to discuss Indian gaming and potential changes to the federal law that oversees the industry.
With Congress pondering increased oversight, tribal leaders were eager to point out the benefits of gambling -- not just to their own people, but also to surrounding communities.
"In New York, we have created 5,000 jobs for Indians and non-Indians," said Keller George, president of the United Southern and Eastern Tribes. "In Florida, they have created 15,000 jobs in and around Miami. Indian gaming has helped everybody."
The two-day summit, sponsored by the Western Governors Association, is designed to look at the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which allowed tribes to open casinos.
Worries
At a news conference, Republican Govs. Bill Owens of Colorado and Michael Rounds of South Dakota expressed concerns about casino expansion, decrying the practice of tribes putting land in trust so they can use it for off-reservation gambling.
For example, Owens now is battling the Cheyenne-Arapahoe tribe of Oklahoma, which has laid claim to nearly 30 million acres of Colorado. The tribe has said it will relinquish the land in exchange for the right to build a casino east of Denver.
Not everything flowing from Indian gaming is good, Owens said, including low-wage jobs and compulsive gambling.
"While the growth of Indian gaming clearly has benefits for the tribes, it also raises questions for states," said Owens, chairman of the governors association. "We will listen carefully and look for areas of agreement. I think this is the first time we have had a discussion like this between states and tribes."
But Owens warned against back-door attempts by Congress to attach riders to bills that give tribes permission for gaming without state consent.
"No one wants to see the federal government locate casinos on our land without the approval of the citizens," he said.
Congressional hearings
The issue of Indian gambling has been taken up recently in Congress.
In hearings earlier this month, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, called tribal gambling an $18-billion business with too little scrutiny that was ripe for scandal.
Meanwhile, the National Indian Gaming Association released its own analysis Tuesday of the impact of Indian gambling.
According to the study, $18.5 billion has been generated by gaming, along with 553,000 jobs. The analysis said 20 percent of Indian gaming revenue was used for education, child care and cultural preservation; 19 percent for economic development; 17 percent for health care and 11 percent for housing. The rest of the money generated was divided up among police and infrastructure needs.
Tribes with gambling had lower poverty rates -- 24.7 percent compared with 33 percent for those without gaming -- the report said. Still, Indians face serious challenges, including infant mortality rates that are 22 percent higher than the rest of the nation, alcoholism rates 627 percent higher and suicide rates 72 percent greater than the national average.
Such figures have led reservations in places like New Mexico to manage their own casinos without assistance from outside management companies, which often take 30 percent to 40 percent of the gambling profits.