Governor, Tribes Hold Gaming Talks Tribes Wary As Kempthorne Reopens Negotiations

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne has reopened negotiations with Idaho’s Indian tribes on tribal gaming, and wants to resolve the issue outside of court.

“The governor is putting forth a good-faith effort to resolve this issue on a broad scale,” said H.D. Palmer, Kempthorne’s communications director. The talks, which started in early January, “have been good, have been productive, we believe,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to build on that spirit of the talks that have gone on to date.”

“We’ve agreed to the shape of the table,” Kootenai Tribe attorney Leroy Wilder said with a laugh. But he added, “It’s fair to say there have been substantive discussions.”

Idaho’s tribal leaders, in the state Capitol on Wednesday for their seventh annual legislative reception, stressed that they see no reason to cut back current tribal gaming operations.

“Gaming as we know it today is good for Idaho and good for the tribes,” said Ernie Stensgar, Coeur d’Alene tribal chairman and chairman of the Alliance of Idaho Tribes. “I think the governor needs to be cognizant of that.”

Idaho’s tribes, while not attaining the wealth that has come from tribal gaming in some other states, have used gaming revenue to upgrade education, health care and other services for their members. They’ve donated some of the money to help the larger, non-Indian communities around them. But the tribes agreed, at Kempthorne’s request, to start talks.

The issue is on the table because southern Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes still don’t have a gaming compact with the state. Kempthorne negotiated one last year that included a requirement for a court test on the legality of gambling machines, which could have affected other tribes’ casinos. Amid objections from the other tribes, the plan was rejected by the House State Affairs Committee.

Kempthorne wants to try again on a compact with the Sho-Bans, but is hoping to settle the issue with the other tribes at the same time.

“We’re going to resolve the issue on a broader scale,” Palmer said. “I think that is definitely different from where things ended last year.”

He added, “If the state’s intent was to simply take this to litigation, you wouldn’t have seen this.”

Jaime Pinkham, Nez Perce tribal treasurer, said, “We recognize the need for the Shoshone-Bannocks to have a compact. But when elements of the compact posed a threat to the Nez Perce Tribe, of course we found ourselves on opposite sides.”

Tribes would like some certainty about their future as far as gaming revenues, so they can invest those revenues into other economic development projects, he said. For example, the Nez Perce Tribe has opened an RV park and would like to build a permanent structure and restaurant at its casino.

“But if gaming has a cloudy future and those are the revenues you’re going to depend on, the tribes could be caught short,” Pinkham said. “That weighs heavily on our mind.” That’s why the Nez Perce are willing to talk with the governor about a possible amendment to their gaming compact, Pinkham said - in search of certainty.

The Nez Perce and other tribes would like an assurance that they and the state won’t end up in court. One possibility is that the tribes would trade an agreement not to expand their gaming operations for an assurance that the state won’t challenge them. When former Gov. Phil Batt convened a study committee on the issue, headed by Lt. Gov. Butch Otter, it ended up recommending essentially that course - that tribal gaming stay as it is now. The committee, after hearings around the state, reported strong public support for existing tribal gaming operations, which have become major community employers.

But Pinkham offered a caution. “For us, expansion is really a function of the market,” he said. If outside limits are to be put on gaming operations, they should apply to the state lottery and other gaming as well, he said.

“If it’s good for the tribes, shouldn’t it be good for the state? Is the issue just Indian gaming, or is the issue gaming overall?” Pinkham asked. There are no limits on other types of businesses expanding. The market should be the test of whether it’s feasible or not, he said.

“From the tribes’ perspective, we don’t deem that Indian gaming in Idaho is broken,” Stensgar said. “That’s what we’ve been asking the government - why raise this question again?”

Stensgar said Kempthorne has to deal with interest groups that oppose all gaming.

“It behooves us to remind the governor, to remind lawmakers what gaming has done for Idaho, what gaming has done for Indian tribes,” he said.

“We’re not doing any more than what the state is doing.”

As sovereign tribes, Idaho’s Indian tribes are entitled under the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to conduct any type of gambling that’s legal for others to conduct in the state. Idaho’s state lottery opened the door to tribal gaming operations, though there has been some quibbling over the years as to whether the types of gaming were the same or not. The gambling machines in tribal casinos function as lottery-like terminals, dispensing a slip of paper bearing the results rather than cash.

Stensgar praised Kempthorne for being open to dialogue with the tribes. “We have a good relationship with the governor,” he said. The tribes were scheduled to host Kempthorne at their Wednesday evening reception, which includes tribal honor dances and a pow-wow. Wilder, the Kootenai Tribe attorney, said he is optimistic that the talks with Kempthorne will “reach an accommodation that’s win-win.”

“The Kootenai Tribe does not view the governor’s efforts as a threat to tribal gaming,” he said. “We view it as an attempt to bring all these issues to closure.”

Said Stensgar: “For the first time in a long time, tribes are getting on their feet. I don’t think he wants to be the governor that is going to pull the stool from under the tribes’ feet and send them back another halfcentury.”