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Idaho Indian Gaming Compact May Get New Life

"At a meeting of the Idaho Council on Indian Affairs on Tuesday, legislators expressed interest in reviving the compact, with some tweaking.

"Tribal representatives were more skeptical, bruised after losing several high-profile battles in the Legislature during the last few years.

"The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, for one, is willing to return to the table, tribal chairman Ernie Stensgar said, but will not abandon its effort to place a voter initiative on the 2002 ballot.

"…Last year's version of the gaming compact was crafted by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and tribal representatives. It would have allowed small-scale reservation gaming to continue, while capping growth and outlawing Nevada/New Jersey-style table gaming, such as craps and blackjack.

"The legislation was introduced during the session's eleventh hour, then defeated by a coalition of senators who either declared themselves morally opposed to gambling or felt that the plan did not contain enough incentives for the state.

"With that defeat, two of North Idaho's Indian tribes, the Coeur d'Alenes and the Nez Perce, launched a drive to collect more than 40,000 signatures from Idaho residents, enough to place the Indian gaming initiative on the 2002 ballot.

"The initiative drive is an expensive process, estimated at between $4 million and $8 million. And when it's over, there's no guarantee of success, although the two tribes say that their polling data show that Idahoans support gaming by a 2-to-1 margin.

"…As for state legislators, they are motivated in part by the very real possibility that the initiative will pass. The language of the initiative, while still placing limits on gaming's growth, is less restrictive than that of the compact…"

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