Projected Use of Increase in Available Revenue* Hem Southern California Field Office(Rent and other overhead) Travel for 8 new field employees @ 25K National Indian Gaming Association 224 Second Street SE Washington DC 20003 (202) 546-7711 • FAX (202) 546-1755 • www.indiangaming.org TESTIMONY OF ERNEST L. STEVENS, JR. NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING ASSOCIATION MAY 14, 2003 BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS Chairman Campbell, Vice Chairman Inouye, and Members of the Committee, my name is Ernest L. Stevens, Jr. I am a member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin and serve as Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association (“NIGA”). Thank you for inviting me to testify this morning on behalf of NIGA about the National Indian Gaming Commission's ("NIGC”) regulatory role and funding. NIGA is a non-profit association of 184 Indian Tribes. NIGA's mission is to protect and preserve tribal sovereignty and the ability of tribal governments to attain economic self-sufficiency through gaming and other methods of economic development. NIGA continuously strives to provide necessary factual information about Indian gaming to the public, Congress, and the Executive Branch. This morning, I will briefly touch on the results of Indian gaming and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or IGRA. I'll discuss the background and framework of the IGRA. I'll then examine the regulatory roles of Tribal, State, and Federal governments in Indian gaming. And finally I'll provide NIGA's views on funding for the National Indian Gaming Commission. II. INDIAN GAMING IS WORKING The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) is based on the fundamental constitutional principle that Indian Tribes are governments.' Just as 37 of the 50 State governments use lotteries to generate revenue, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that Indian Tribes retain the sovereign authority to use gaming to generate governmental revenue to build infrastructure, and fund programs to provide services to their citizens. When Congress enacted IGRA, it stated that the purposes of the Act were to provide a statutory basis for Indian gaming to promote "tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments" and to establish a regulatory system for Indian gaming, including an independent Federal regulatory authority. See 25 U.S.C. § 2702. For the most part, IGRA is serving those purposes well.2 Indian gaming has not solved all of the problems created by over 200 years of genocide and dispossession. It has, however, empowered Tribes to make big strides in 1 The U.S. Constitution, hundreds of treaties and Congressional Acts, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions all acknowledge that Indian Tribes are governments. The Commerce Clause specifically states that "Congress shall have power to ... regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.” U.S. Const., Art. I, §8, cl. 3. 2 However, the Supreme Court in Seminole Tribe v. Florida disrupted the delicate balance in the tribalstate compacting process that Congress sought to implement through IGRA. For added discussion on this issue, see page 15 below. rebuilding Indian communities. Over the past thirty years, the progress achieved by Tribes with the help of gaming has been truly remarkable.3 Indian gaming benefits tribal communities by helping tribal governments provide the most basic needs for their citizens. Indian gaming helps provide jobs, health care, education, and basic infrastructure for Indian country. 4 Indian Tribes engaged in Indian gaming have created 300,000 American jobs nationwide. Many of these jobs go to Indian people who have never had an opportunity to work. For example, in North and South Dakota, 70 to 75% of the jobs created by Indian gaming are held by Indians. Indian gaming generated $12.7 billion in gross tribal government revenue nationwide in 2001. After paying for financing, employee salaries, infrastructure and other expenses, industry standards indicate that on average a net revenue stream of 25 to 35% is realized from gross revenue. Using this analysis, Indian gaming generates $4.5 billion for tribal governments. With these funds Tribes have built schools, hospitals, police and fire stations, roads, water and sewer systems, and have funded education (K12 and college scholarships), health care, and many other general tribal welfare programs. Today, tribal schools, health clinics, police and fire stations, housing, and cultural centers built with Indian gaming revenue stand as monuments of tribal initiative. In just 30 years - Indian gaming has helped Tribes begin to rebuild communities that were all but forgotten. Where once there was poverty and unemployment - Indian gaming provides more than 300,000 American jobs. Where once Tribes suffered disease and the lack of health care, Indian gaming helps build clinics and provides health care to the sick and elderly. Where once Tribes faced epidemic suicide and drop out rates, Indian gaming builds schools, funds scholarship programs and provides hope for an entire generation of Indian youth. Indian gaming is this and a lot more. Our tribal governments are stronger and our people are stronger. Tribal governments are also using government revenue generated by gaming to diversify tribal economies. The Mohegan Tribe has invested in aquaculture, a traditional activity. The Cabazon Band has built a tire recycling facility that processes 2 million tires per year and a “green” electric utility plant that runs on methane gas created from landfill waste. These are only a few examples of the benefits of Indian gaming to tribal communities. There are many more - and I could go on -- but I encourage each Member 3 To illustrate, in 1990 the median income for American Indians was $19,900 and the median income nationwide was $37,300. In 2000, the median income for American Indians was $31,800 compared and the median income nationwide was $42,100. At the same time, the poverty rate for American Indians fell from 33% in 1990 to 29% in 2000. Nationally, the poverty rate in 2000 was 12%. * California Nations Indian Gaming Association Report, Tribal Sovereignty Works, at 11 (February 2003) ("The [Indian gaming] industry contributed more than 490,000 gaming and non-gaming jobs and a payroll of $12.4 billion."). |