Sho-Bans: Rep. Loertscher’s anti-tribal gaming bill ‘misguided’

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have issued a statement denouncing HB 127 , Rep. Tom Loertscher’s bill targeting tribal gaming in Idaho. The measure was introduced last week and is awaiting a hearing in the House State Affairs Committee, which Loertscher chairs. Here is the Sho-Bans’ statement:

“This is the latest in a series of attacks on tribal gaming that anti-gaming and anti-Indian forces have mounted in Idaho since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988,” said Blaine Edmo, Chairman of the Fort Hall Business Council. “Not only does this bill disregard the will of the people of Idaho, as expressed in the decisive outcome of Proposition One in 2002, but it also proposes to nullify many years of deliberation and negotiation that resulted in a successful and legally binding agreement between the state and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes—an agreement which cannot be amended via statute. Sadly, this bill, if passed, will drag the state of Idaho and the tribes back into court, where the state already has an 0-3 record on this matter.”

“The people have spoken and the matter in question was decided years ago. It has been thoroughly evaluated and litigated with significant effort and expenditures on the part of both the State of Idaho and the tribes,” Edmo said. “This misguided effort to unilaterally change a legally agreed upon compact without input from the tribes stands only to waste taxpayer dollars and everyone’s time.”