Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The Catawba Indian Nation's push to offer electronic gambling took a hit
Monday when the S.C. Supreme Court ruled a state ban on video poker also
applies to the tribe. The Catawbas, South Carolina's only federally
recognized tribe, argued their 1993 land deal with the state allowed them to
put video poker machines on their reservation, despite a statewide ban in
2000. The state contends the land deal means the tribe's reservation falls
under state, not federal, gambling laws. State Attorney General Henry
McMaster, who appealed a lower court's decision in favor of the tribe, said
the higher court made "a sound decision." Catawba attorney Jay Bender
called the ruling a setback, but he expects the U.S. Supreme Court to
eventually decide the case. "The question is, does this tribe have the right
to exercise sovereignty to operate video poker as a government just as the
state of South Carolina operates the lottery as a government?" Bender said.
Sen. Wes Hayes, an attorney and leading gambling opponent, said he doubts
the U.S. Supreme Court would rule against the state high court's unanimous
decision, while a spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said the ruling was
important to keep video poker from returning to South Carolina. The tribe
has said it doesn't necessarily want to put video gambling machines on its
York County reservation about 25 miles south of Charlotte, N.C. But the
Catawbas had hoped to use a favorable court ruling as a bargaining chip to
build a high-stakes bingo parlor south of Columbia along Interstate 95.
Local officials want the bingo facility and the estimated 1,800 jobs it
would bring to the rural area. But many lawmakers, including Sanford, oppose
the idea. The Catawbas sued the state after bills allowing the Santee
facility repeatedly failed in the General Assembly. The idea died again in
committee last year. The Catawbas say a new bingo parlor is critical to
their future. The tribe said its York County bingo hall began losing money
after the state lottery started in 2002. The Catawbas were forced to shut
down the operation and have since sold the hall and the surrounding property
in Rock Hill. The tribe's 1993 settlement, which gave the Catawbas $50
million and federal recognition in exchange for relinquishing claims to
144,000 acres, also allowed the Catawbas to operate bingo games in two
locations. But legislative approval is needed for the Santee facility
because the Catawbas want to link it electronically to other tribal bingo
halls nationwide to offer bigger payments, Bender said. He likened it to a
multi-state lottery game, such as Powerball, which the state participates
in. But Hayes called the proposed bingo hall a huge casino with games
resembling video poker. "They call it bingo, but that's in name only," said
the Rock Hill Republican. "It will be much bigger gambling than anything
we've seen in South Carolina before. There's a reason we voted video poker
out. It's the crack cocaine of gambling." Even if the state Supreme Court
had ruled in the tribe's favor, Hayes said he would continue to oppose an
electronic bingo hall anywhere in the state. The ruling only adds to the
tribe's already significant hurdles, he said. Chief Gilbert Blue, who
announced over the weekend he would not seek re-election after leading the
tribe for more than three decades, said he thought the settlement clearly
allowed video gambling.
The high court also offered good news to the tribe, ruling the state cannot
impose an $18 per person fee on the tribe's bingo players. The state created
the fee in 1998 without the tribe's consent, the court said.