BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A change to the North Dakota Constitution allowing state-owned casinos will hurt American Indian gambling facilities and further erode relationships with tribes, opponents of the proposal told lawmakers Monday.
The proposal comes after months of protests of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline’s disputed crossing under a Missouri River reservoir near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota.
“Tribal and state relations are at an all-time low, so low that we are in a deficit, in the red,” Ruth Buffalo, of Mandaree, told the House Judiciary Committee. “The state of North Dakota needs to be worrying about how they can fix relationships with tribes.”
Rep. Al Carlson, R-Fargo, said the idea behind the proposed constitutional amendment is to establish casinos as “destination-oriented attractions” and use profits from them to lessen - or eliminate altogether - state sales tax and corporate income tax.
It also would be a preemptive strike against a voter initiative that could establish casinos with rules less desirable to lawmakers, backers said.
“I want citizens to be able to vote on this but we want to control the details,” said Sen. Lonnie Laffen, R-Grand Forks.
North Dakota has charitable gambling sites in bars and clubs throughout the state. North Dakota voters in 2002 also endorsed putting the state into national lottery games, after defeating the idea three times prior. The Legislature in 2003 killed proposal to allow gambling casinos anywhere in the state.
North Dakota already has six casinos on American Indian reservations. The proposal would forbid state casinos from being built within 20 miles of a reservation, or 5 miles of a city of more than 5,000 people.
The proposal would allow up to six state-owned casinos. If approved by the Legislature, voters could decide the issue in the June 2018 primary.
Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox said casinos provide more than 2,000 jobs and millions of dollars in annual revenue for the state’s five Indian reservations and nearby communities.
Fox said the state already has an adequate number of casinos. If more were added, “one is going to have to suffer for the other.”
Jonathan Jorgensen, president of the board of directors for the Charitable Gaming Association of North Dakota, said the additional casinos also would hurt his organization, that has about 300 sites in the state.
“This is not an expansion of gaming, this is an explosion of gaming,” he said.
Larry Treleaven, of Rugby, told lawmakers he supports more casinos in the state for gamblers like himself and to help tourism and the state’s bottom line.
“Rather than being known as a drive-through state, it would be a great asset to have destination casinos for both vacationers and travelers,” Treleaven said.
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