Governor Gregoire's Gambling Contradiction

The defense employed by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and her allies in defending her actions regarding a gaming compact with the state's Native American tribes has been to say the goal was to stop a massive expansion of tribal gaming. The facts don't indicate that actually occurred.

[Gregoire spokesman Pearse Edwards] said she had renegotiated the 2005 agreement that included revenue sharing in an attempt to keep gambling from expanding too quickly and after listening to concerns from a wide range of groups, including other tribes.

Likewise, Democratic spokesman Kelly Steele's recent appearance on Seattle talk radio station KVI's "The Commentators" show was replete with references to Gregoire not wanting to turn the Evergreen State into Nevada.

One might chuckle at the notion of Sin City coming north to the meet the nanny state favored by many elected officials in Seattle and Olympia, yet gaming itself continues to expand significantly since the compact was negotiated.

The actual debate about gambling regulations and their utility is another issue, but let's assume for this discussion that attempts to limit the growth of gambling in the state is a policy good.

The net receipts for state gaming operations don't support that this stated policy outcome was actually achieved. Overall net receipts were $1.534 billion in the 2004 fiscal year, including $888 million from tribal casinos. By FY 2007, the total had risen to $1.962 billion, including $1.338 billion for the tribes.

Thus, while non-tribal gaming receipts dropped slightly from $646 million to $624 million over that time, tribal casino receipts soared 50.7%.

One could argue that the compact will restrain this explosive growth, which is fair to a degree. Yet the statistics show tribal gaming is already growing at a rapid rate, something of which the general public is quite aware.

Even high gas prices and the weak economy aren't dampening tribal leaders' predictions that the new 12-story hotel near Marysville will become a destination resort competing not with Best Westerns and Holiday Inns along the Interstate 5 corridor, but with the glamorous casino-hotels of Las Vegas itself.

More importantly, as any observer of TV and radio ads across the state will tell you, tribal gaming operations are expanding, as the Times coverage attests:

Seven other tribes, including the Quinault, Suquamish and Lummi, have built lodging to complement tribal casinos, said Ernie Stebbins, executive director of the Washington Indian Gaming Association.

Consequently, it is nigh impossible to take seriously the claims of Gregoire and her supporters that the compact in question has and will achieve its goal of seriously mitigating the overall growth of tribal gaming in Washington state. This rings true especially in light of other policy choices by the state in recent years, including the ban on all online gaming, which results in this from a website for slot machine enthusiasts:

There are well over 100 different casinos listed in the state of Washington. It appears that the tribal gaming centers dominate the slot scene in Washington, especially after getting the recent ban in online gaming pushed through the legislature, so make sure you call ahead to make sure that the casino you wish to visit offers slot machines.

Good people can argue about the merits of gambling regulation and how far it should and should not go. Nevertheless, Gregoire negotiated a compact that doesn't actually achieve meaningful restraint of tribal gaming as pledged, doesn't include any revenue sharing to benefit the state as is common practice elsewhere, and is now publicly coupled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in tribal contributions to the state Democratic party.