Tribes downplay effects of slots compact

OLYMPIA – Despite the likely passage of a new agreement to allow Indian tribes 9,000 more slot-style machines statewide, tribal leaders on Thursday said that there will be no dramatic upsurge in gambling. The market, they said, simply isn’t there.

“There’s not going to be a big change,” said Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. “People have to understand that the market is pretty much set.”

Despite the increase in the number of allowed machines, the agreement does not authorize any more casinos.

“You won’t even be able to see” the increase, predicted Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

Cladoosby and Allen testified Thursday at a legislative hearing on the new agreement, which the state gambling commission and governor’s office have been negotiating for months. While some Republicans oppose the agreement, saying there’s too much gambling already, they concede that it’s virtually a done deal at this point. Lawmakers have little say, anyway – the compact is between the governor and the tribes.

“The voters have consistently rejected expanded gambling,” said Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger. “It seems to me that the governor’s tone-deaf to that.”

The agreement would cover 27 of the state’s 29 tribes, including the Kalispel Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The details of the new agreement are identical for most of the tribes. The state gambling commission will hold its own hearing on the bill this morning.

Among the major provisions of the proposed agreement:

“Each tribe could own 975 machines, instead of the current 675.

“By leasing machines from other tribes, tribes could offer players up to 3,000 machines. Most are now limited to 2,000. A few urban Puget Sound tribes could eventually offer 4,000.

“Machines could be played with coins or bills, instead of plastic or paper cards. Payouts, however, can’t be in cash.

“Players can bet up to $20 a play on up to 15 percent of machines. The limit now is $5.

“A fraction of a percent of the machine revenue – minus payouts – must be donated to problem-gambling programs.

“Another fraction of a percent must be spent on smoking cessation and prevention programs.

“Casinos can be open 24/7 if the tribe wants, a slight increase from previous limits of 156 to 160 hours a week.

On Thursday, Swinomish, Jamestown S’Klallam and Lower Elwha tribal leaders told lawmakers that gambling is the only economic development that’s worked reliably in Indian Country.

“The federal government’s Marshall Plan for Indian Country was welfare. Welfare, in my opinion was a curse on our people,” said Cladoosby. While he said he’s not a big fan of gaming – and that his own family has been touched by problem gambling – Cladoosby said the economic development boom fueled by the industry “has been nothing short of a miracle.”

Tribes can now offer far more government services – and have become major employers and economic drivers in their own communities.

Cladoosby, Swinomish chairman for a decade, said that his predecessor sometimes returned his tribal paycheck so the small tribe’s government offices could pay its electrical bill. Today, the tribal operating budget is nearly $40 million, with $20 million more in construction planned. It employs more than 500 people, 80 percent of them non-Indian, and has built a new health center, dental clinic, senior center, youth facility, sewage treatment plant and day care.

Now the tribe is on the verge of launching a massive housing project for tribal members – with each home on three-quarters of an acre.

“All casino dollars,” Cladoosby said. “No government money involved at all.”

Chandler said afterward that one governor after the next has been too permissive. Each says they oppose gambling, he said, only to allow gambling to expand on their watch.

“I don’t believe that gambling represents true sustainable economic development,” he said.

Tribes, including the Spokanes, have also said they want to diversify their economies for lasting strength. But launching that, they say, requires the sort of financial muscle that gambling brings.

“I wish they (lawmakers) would stop treating us as interest groups with casinos,” said Michael Moran, a lobbyist for several tribes. “We are governments. These are hard dollars that buy basic services.”

And the money quickly ends up in the taxed economy, Cladoosby said. Payroll dollars, equipment and supply purchases and so forth quickly leave most reservations.

“Take time to go out and witness firsthand the miracles that are happening today in Indian Country,” he told lawmakers. “We are making giant strides.”

It was a point he reiterated in an interview after the hearing.

“I wish they could see 15 years ago,” he said.