Odds Seem Against Tribes Winning Slots Jackpot

For the second straight year, Washington voters will be asked if they want slot machines in Indian casinos.

Last year, state tribes offered to cut voters in on the slot jackpots by mailing them a share of the profits at year’s end. The voters said no.

This year, it’s a more conventional arrangement. Each tribe could offer up to 295 slot machines in exchange for funneling 15 percent of the take into public programs.

Advocates call Initiative 671 a reasonable way to boost tribal economies and reap public benefits at the same time. A $2 million television advertising blitz is now stressing those claims across the state.

But a recent poll for The Spokesman-Review and KHQ-TV indicates the initiative is a long shot. Only 38 percent of those surveyed supported it, far short of the 60 percent needed to pass.

Initiative opponents, including Spokane County Sheriff John Goldman and Prosecutor Jim Sweetser, warn the proposal could open the state to crime-riddled Las Vegasstyle gambling, where slots generate about two-thirds of the profits.

If the initiative passes, the state Legislature would be forced to allow slots at taverns and restaurants, too, say some state lawmakers who liken the “one-armed bandits” to the worst of drugs.

“Slot machines are the crack cocaine of gambling addiction,” says state Sen. Mike Heavey, D-Seattle.

The complicated gambling initiative is particularly confusing in Eastern Washington, where two local tribes have offered gamblers slots for the past two years - despite the fact the devices are illegal in the state.

Seven casinos scattered across Spokane and Colville tribal lands are crammed wall-to-wall with almost 2,000 slots smuggled onto the reservations.

A federal judge has allowed the Spokane Tribe to operate slot machines for the past two years while the state’s authority to regulate the casinos is examined by the court. The Colvilles benefit from the same legal limbo, because they also haven’t struck a gambling agreement with the state.

Not surprisingly, the two neighboring tribes oppose Initiative 671. They wouldn’t be able to offer as many slots and they’d have to endure far more regulation.

The measure is sponsored by 19 tribes that don’t now offer slots, but which expect gaming revenues would soar if the initiative passes.

Doreen Maloney, spokeswoman for Tribes for Responsible Gaming, says the initiative is the Indians’ last resort for economic self-sufficiency.

“If you really look at Indian tribes - reservations - there are very few economic opportunities,” Maloney said. “The key is, most are in rural areas, forestry and fishing are declining and very few businesses will invest there.”

Passage of Initiative 671 could mean as many as 13,000 slot machines at tribal casinos.

Each tribe could negotiate a gambling agreement with the state to operate 295 slot or video poker machines in its casinos the first year, adding another 200 the second year.

Proponents argue the income would help tribes expand economic development programs, including technical training, schools and scholarships.

Opponents predict the state would lose up to $1 billion in taxes and other revenue from restaurants, taverns and other enterprises that now sponsor legal gambling.

Managers of Spokane Bingo halls predict legalizing slots could create enough competition to end all charitable gaming in Spokane.

Initiative 671 has been financed mostly by the 19 tribes, which have raised nearly $2 million - more than 100 times what opponents have raised.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: More make up their mind on gaming

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Jim Lynch Staff writer The Associated Press contributed to this report.