Tribal Gaming Plan Offers a Cut to Washington Voters

Several of Washington’s Native American tribes, drafting an initiative to open up unlimited casino gambling on reservation lands, wondered how they might make the measure more appealing to a wary public.

Tribal leaders backing the measure said they looked at gambling revenues as a resource, not so different from the mountains and fish and timber with which the tribes are blessed. The resource, they figured, ought to be shared.

Who better to share it with than the voters charged with deciding the initiative’s fate? So the measure, set for a statewide vote in Washington today, proposes to do just that: share 10% of the proceeds, in the event the election authorizes full casino gambling, with everybody who cast a ballot.

It is the first gambling ballot measure in the nation to offer voters a direct cut of the take. Opponents call it thinly disguised vote-buying. But initiative backers call it sharing the wealth.

“We’re not greedy people. We’re a sharing culture, and it’s a resource we should all benefit from. It’s not like a tree that’s on my property. It’s a tourism resource, and therefore we should share the proceeds,” said R. L. Gutierrez, who owns and operates a gambling casino for the Spokane tribe.

Russell LaFountaine, campaign manager for the ballot initiative, said the voter rebate idea came after tribal leaders debated a number of options for sharing the money. “Somebody thought that 10% ought to go to watershed restoration and fishing. Other people talked about education and parks and housing. Then we thought, why not give government back to the people?”

Native Americans already operate nine casinos in Washington, offering blackjack, craps and roulette in addition to the bingo, card rooms and pull-tab games authorized throughout the state. But individual compacts between each tribe and the state limit wagers, the number of tables and hours of operation. Slot machines and video poker are not permitted. State officials say wagering from the nine casinos now totals up to $600 million a year.

The initiative, by authorizing popular slot machines and removing most other restrictions, could triple earnings. Initiative backers predict they could earn enough to mail each voter a check for $91 a year. (Alternatively, voters would be offered a check-off box to send their cut to the homeless, Catholic Charities, park programs or fish and wildlife funds.)

Secretary of State Ralph Munro has called the measure “absolute craziness” and says the state will likely challenge it if it passes.

Frank Miller, executive director of the state gambling commission, said the state has made a decision not to open the floodgates of slot-machine gambling, which he predicted could boost gambling in Washington to $6 billion a year.

The measure has split Washington’s Native American tribes, with eight opposing the measure against the six that are backing it--three of them financially. The split essentially reflects those tribes that have negotiated compacts with the state to operate gambling casinos against those that have held out for slot machines and other freedoms and refused to sign.

Doreen Maloney of the Upper Skagit tribe, spokeswoman for the tribal coalition opposed to the ballot measure, said most tribes would like to operate slot machines. But, she said, that doesn’t mean they believe in unrestricted gambling.

“Should tribes in the state of Washington be allowed to conduct gaming activity, and should that gaming activity include electronic gaming devices? Yes, they should. But that activity must be done with constraint, and it must be done with the controls that are necessary,” she said.

The measure would nominally allow federal and state regulation but would require investigators to give 24 hours’ notice before arriving and 48 hours before checking the books. The offer of a rebate to voters also has raised criticism in many quarters. “It’s nothing more than a ploy to buy votes,” said Sonny Bargala, vice chairman of the Muckleshoot tribe, which operates a casino in Auburn.