Gambling Law Could Pass The Deal To States New Casinos Would Need The Consent Of The Governor Or State Legislature

The Clinton administration would be prohibited from approving any new Indian casinos without the consent of the governor or state legislature under a measure passed by the Senate on Thursday.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said the amendment to an Interior Department spending bill would guarantee that local communities have some say on where new gambling operations are located.

“Society as a whole bears the burden of the effects of gambling,” Enzi said. “A state’s law enforcement, a state’s social services and communities are seriously impacted by the expansion of casino gambling on Indian tribal lands.”

Interior Department officials opposed the measure, which was approved by voice vote Thursday, but said there were no pending casino proposals that it would affect.

The amendment is not in the House-passed version of the Interior spending bill, and negotiators from the two sides will have to decide whether it will be included in the final measure.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1996 barred Indian tribes from suing states that refused to allow them to open casinos. Since then, the Interior Department has been trying to decide whether it has the legal authority to approve such operations over the objections of a state.

Enzi’s original amendment said that both the governor and state legislature must approve any compact, but he later modified that when senators pointed out that that could violate state constitutions.

The modified version said the compacts with Indian tribes must be approved by the state in accordance with state law.