Governor says he's ready to negotiate
Pub Date: 3/1/2007
A late January mailing to residents of the Flathead Indian Reservation from Montana Governor Brian Schweitzers sought to set the record straight and amplify his position but raised the hackles of some tribal officials there.
State/tribal gaming compact negotiations broke down in late November and without a compact in place, non-tribal operators were forced to end all gaming and remove devices from the reservation. Operators there say significant layoffs have ensued and note the state will no longer be collecting the $1 million in taxes from non-tribal reservation video gaming machines.
The tribes, meanwhile say they have moved beyond the previously allowed Class III gaming which includes poker and keno machines to concentrate on Class II games which amounts to bingo and does not require a compact.
The Governor's letter said in part, "I have tried, in good faith, to move the process forward recognizing the constraints of Montana's Constitution and laws."
That was followed by a brief chronological summary of the negotiations and the parties' respective positions. Attached to the letter was a more detailed history of the negotiations composed by Andrew Huff, attorney for the Governor's American Indian Nations Council.
The Governor's letter said he made the detailed account "available to you in the hopes that it will shed some light on the State's understanding of the negotiation process."
It continued, "I have dedicated my administration to opening state government to the Tribal Nations and to ensuring inclusion of tribal members in its operation. I recognize the sovereign status of the Tribal Nations in the State of Montana and remain committed to government-to-government negotiations. I remain ready to restart negotiations on a new Class III gaming compact at the Tribe's request"
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Chairman James Steele was apparently nonplused when he told the Missoulian the Governor's letter was "not appropriate and It's not appreciated. It seems we were past an issue and then this letter comes out. The Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille have moved on and past Class III gambling."
The Huff chronology stated that at the first March 22, 2006 negotiating session the Tribes presented its initial position which called for exclusive jurisdiction over all gaming and unlimited gaming.
The state responded that the Governor hadn't the constitutional or statutory authority to accept those terms, but did offer the tribes $2,000 machine payouts as opposed to $800 limits for non-tribal operators and offered to boost the limit on tribal gaming machines to 400.
The memorandum says the Tribes rejected that offer and made no counter-proposal.
At the second meeting April 27, the state renewed its offer "in light of no tribal counter-proposal" and, again, the tribes rejected it and restated its original position. The same thing occurred at the next session May 25.
The sides remained stalemated through October and, according to the memorandum, exchanged written correspondence where the state "expressed concern that CS&KT was not willing to negotiate, while state negotiators continued to believe a mutually acceptable agreement could be worked out."
On October 12, the state offered the tribe a compact extension which the tribe rejected October 30 while restating its original position, the memorandum says.
The state offered an extension again Nov. 8 to which the tribes did not respond.
Finally, Chairman Steele met with Gov. Schweitzer Nov. 20 at the Governor's Office in Helena. The state added to its previous offers $200,000 of the gaming taxes from non-tribal machines plus $500,000 in fuel taxes. The state also offered to freeze the number of non-tribal gaming licenses on the reservation, all subject to approval by the Legislature.
The tribe rejected that proposal Nov. 29, with the state making a final offer to extend the compact, which was rejected Nov. 30. Class III gaming on the reservation came to an end at midnight that day.
Huff concluded the memorandum with this comment: "The time-line indicates the efforts made by the state to come to some mutually acceptable agreement with the CS&KT. We also made sustained effort to extend the current compact so that no hardship would result if negotiations were not completed by Nov. 30, 2006. As you can see, CS&KT was not receptive to our efforts."
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, March. 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.