Indian Gaming - a good news, bad news thing

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Indian gaming will generate more than $100 million for the state's budget, employ thousands of Oklahomans, and plow millions of dollars into health care, education and other social services for the state's Native American tribes, two former state lawmakers said Thursday.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Political Science Association, former state Reps. Phil Ostrander and Tommy Thomas said Oklahoma "is fortunate" to have Indian gaming.

"If the state is going to have gaming, then it's very fortunate to have Indian gaming," Ostrander, a lobbyist for the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said. "Indian gaming is a nonprofit enterprise. It generates revenues, not profits. And those revenues go right back into Oklahoma."

Native American tribes, he said, have had a major impact on rural Oklahoma.

"It's much more than what anyone anticipated. In Miami, people are talking about how the tribes had turned around the economy."

Like Ostrander, Thomas touted revenue generated by the tribes' gaming operations.

"The tribes create jobs with benefits," he said. "They help drive the economies of rural Oklahoma. Native American gaming ventures employ Native Americans and non-Native Americans."

Yet, despite the influx of additional state revenue, some operations are causing problems for local and state governments.

"There are lots of detractors of Indian gaming," said University of Oklahoma professor Aimee Franklin. "Many detractors came into the market and talked about the gambling addiction."

Other issues, she said, involved the tribe's "heritage land claims."

"In Kansas City, they have one casino on the river," she said. "The tribe wanted to have another on the other state line so they made a heritage claim, saying they had previously owned the land."

Those claims, Franklin said, often use imminent domain laws to take land.

"Governments are being forced to look at the costs and long-term consequences," she said. "Some governments are experiencing financial losses because of these operations."

Ottawa County Undersheriff Bob Ernst agreed.

"We have jurisdictional issues," he said. "We're funded by sales tax. And, obviously, Indian tribes on trust land don't contribute sales tax."

The sheriff's department, he said, could "use more people and resources" to service the county's 35,000 residents.

"We will see an increase in some crimes," he said. "And we could use more resources to get out there. But that's something that isn't happening."