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Speaker: Penalize the tribe

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: October 22, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - State House Speaker Larry Cretul asked federal gaming authorities Wednesday to shut down the Seminoles Tribe's card tables and Vegas-style slot machines, slap the tribe with hefty fines, or both.

For more than a month, Gov. Charlie Crist has urged lawmakers to ratify a gaming compact that he negotiated on the state's behalf with the Seminole Tribe in August. But in a letter dated Oct. 21, Cretul told George Skibine, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, that talks between the Legislature and Seminoles "have reached an impasse that can only be remedied with your intervention."

The deal the governor and the tribe signed in late August deviated from terms approved by lawmakers, so they must ratify the agreement for it to become law.

Of particular concern to many lawmakers is the expansion of "banked" card games such as blackjack to all of the Seminoles' casinos in Florida, and the near-monopoly that the tribe would have on those games. Absent a gaming compact, such card games are illegal in Florida.

In his letter to Skibine, the House speaker summarized the state Supreme Court's 2008 finding that Crist had lacked legal authority to sign an existing compact with the Seminoles because he had not involved the Legislature in the negotiations. Despite that ruling, the Seminoles are still operating Class III slot machines and banked card games approved in that 2007 compact.

Indian gaming is a federal matter, but federal courts have decided that "whether a tribal-state compact has been entered into and is in effect is a matter of state law," Cretul wrote. By defying the state court's ruling, he said, the tribe violated the federal gaming law.

Cretul reminded Skibine of the latter's authority "to levy and collect appropriate civil fines up to $25,000 per violation against any tribal operator or management contractor who violates any provision" of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The speaker pointedly noted Skibine's authority "to issue orders of temporary closure of gaming activities for substantial violations. ... It is our hope that the NIGC exercises this authority to bring the Tribe into compliance with federal law."

Barry Richard, an attorney for the tribe, said it's not that simple. The U.S. Department of the Interior published the 2007 compact in the Federal Registry, and once that happens, he said, the compact is valid.

Seminoles spokesman Gary Bitner agreed, saying in an e-mail that the 2007 compact negotiated with Crist is still valid.

"In fact, the Court only addressed a narrow aspect of the Governor's authority and specifically declined to address the status of the Compact under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act," Bitner said in the e-mail. "Since the federal approval of the Tribe's 2007 Compact has not been reversed by any judicial or administrative decision, the Compact remains in effect as a matter of federal law."

Staff for Cretul later clarified that he is requesting only that Skibine consider shutting down the tribe's Class III games - slots and banked card games - not padlocking the entire casino.

The Hard Rock in Tampa does offer poker and a few bingo-style Class II electronic games, but it has invested heavily in converting mostly to Class III games. Bitner could not say Wednesday whether shutting down the Vegas-style slots could effectively shutter the whole operation.

Cretul told Skibine that shutting down those games is critical to reaching agreement on a compact, which the federal authorities are encouraging.

"Until the banked card games are shut down and the Tribe gives some indication that it is willing to abide by the law, and ultimately its agreements, it would appear that the state would be ill-advised to enter into any compact with the Tribe," Cretul wrote.

A spokesman for Skibine said he was still reviewing the letter.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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