SPOKANE – After years of operating casinos in defiance of the law, the Spokane Indian Tribe on Thursday announced it had reached a tentative deal with federal and state regulators to bring its gambling offerings under their control.
The proposed deal calls for the Spokane Tribe to have much greater freedom than other tribes in the state, and it may prompt some of those tribes to seek the same agreement.
Under the deal, the Spokane Tribe can operate up to five casinos, with a total of 4,700 video gambling machines. That is a number in harmony with other tribes in the state. But the Spokanes can offer much higher stakes at some tables, and will be allowed to operate video slot machines that will accept coins or currency rather than paper tickets.
The Spokanes are the last tribe in Washington that runs a casino without an agreement. There are currently 25 Indian casinos in the state, which generate about $1.2 billion a year using machines that take paper tickets instead of cash.
“We have reached a proposed compact that will serve the tribe and state well,” Spokane Chairman Richard Sherwood said in a statement.
The deal, after 15 years of conflict, will provide economic benefits to the tribe and the region, and it ensures that gambling will remain limited and well-regulated, Sherwood said.
Gambling revenues will be used to improve health care and provide higher education for tribal members, as well as law enforcement and government services, he said.
The deal was reached between the tribe, the Washington State Gambling Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior, and it still must be approved by all the entities.
“I’d like to thank the Spokane Tribe and state negotiators for their hard work to reach this tentative agreement,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement.
The Spokane Tribe has operated several casinos for years on its reservation north of Spokane. The tribe and the state were not previously able to reach agreement on terms.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1998 that the state was not negotiating in good faith with the tribe and dropped a federal injunction against tribal gambling operations. The state and the tribe resumed talks in 2004.
From here, the deal will be the subject of a public hearing within 30 days of the Legislature’s receiving the proposal. The state Gambling Commission will hold a public hearing Feb. 8 to decide whether to send the proposal to the governor. The tribal chairman, the governor and the secretary of the interior must all sign the compact.
Under the deal, the Spokane Tribe would be the first allowed to offer cash-operated, single-push-button video-gambling machines.
State Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, who sits on the Gambling Commission, was sharply critical of the deal. On Wednesday, she told a Seattle newspaper the proposal was “really offensive” and a much greater expansion of gambling than the public wanted.
She did not return telephone messages from The Associated Press on Thursday.
Gregoire last year rejected a proposal that would have allowed the tribe to run 7,500 machines in return for giving the state a cut of the proceeds.
The new proposal provides no cut for the state.
The proposal would allow the tribe to raise betting limits on 15 percent of its slot-style machines from $5 to $20 a turn. The tribe can also have no more than 2,000 video machines at any one location.
The tribe can also operate up to 75 gambling tables at one facility, and up to 50 at other casinos.
The Spokanes, also for the first time in the state, could offer high stakes betting on table games such as poker and blackjack for 120 days a year at a few tables at one location. Those high wagers would be available only for players who pass financial screening and aren’t known to be problem gamblers.
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