Tyrel Stevenson, legislative director for Coeur d’Alene Tribe, told the House State Affairs Committee at this morning’s hearing on HB 127, “If there’s an issue with something that the tribes currently are undertaking right now, the tribe feels this should be engaged in an arms-length manner. The state and tribe are partners in this. That’s what IGRA (the national Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) did.”

He said, “This amendment, rather than providing clarity, actually creates ambiguity, it creates a legal question. And rather than providing guidance to a state officer, what it does is open the door to litigation. That’s a concern for the tribe.” He added, “The games that are currently being played are legal,” not only under the Idaho Constitution, but under state and federal law and tribal compacts with the state.

Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, asked Stevenson, “Do the machines on the floor today fit that criteria of what is a tribal gaming machine,” as stated now in Idaho law? He responded, “Absolutely, the machines meet the definitions within 429b that the people of the state of Idaho and the tribes agreed on, and it is constitutional.” Zito said given that, “I’m not seeing how the change in these few words are going to make that big of a change in this issue.”

Stevenson said it would add a level of ambiguity, and it’s unclear what effect that would have. “Reasonable minds can and will disagree over what this language does,” he said. “I believe that that could give rise to protracted litigation between the state of Idaho and private parties or between the state of Idaho and the tribes.”