Oklahoma Governor Set To Make Tribal Class III Operations Illegal Going Into 2020

• Governor Kevin Stitt says tribal operations will expire in Oklahoma after January 1.
• Native American casino operators are currently taxed between 4-10% of their revenue.
• Governor Stitt wants to start negotiations at 25% for any new agreement.  

OKLAHOMA CITY – The clash between the Native American tribes and Oklahoma government has reached another boiling point, as the two sides have failed to reach an agreement on how much of the revenue generated by the casino should be taxed.

Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt has made it known that at the end of the year the current gambling compact between the state and tribes will expire, leaving many of the state casino operators on the wrong side of a lengthy legal battle.

“Are they going to be operating illegally class III games?” Stitt asked. “That brings a whole host of issues with vendors.”

The impasse between the Oklahoma government and gaming tribes grew tenser as Gov. Kevin Stitt declared that any tribe operating Class III gambling games after January 1, 2020, would be doing it illegally. Class III gambling in Oklahoma includes traditional gambling games like slot machines, roulette, and craps.

The tribes believe that the compact will automatically renew, and if Gov. Stitt would acknowledge that, it would be a major first step towards bringing the tribes back to the negotiating table.

“The fact is, our compacts renew and that our gaming will be as lawful in January 2020 as it is in December 2019,” said Stephen Greetham, the senior counsel of the Chickasaw Nation.

The ongoing battle has not seen much progress as the two sides cannot reach an agreement on a new deal. The Oklahoma government wants to squeeze more money out of a flourishing state gambling industry. However, the tribes are pushing back saying that the 25% proposed tax suggested by Stitt is too much – especially when tribes in other states aren’t being taxed as much.

“Those are the terms the state offered to us 15 years ago, and it is beyond untenable for it to arbitrarily and at the 11th hour suddenly say it didn’t mean what it said. Oklahoma is better than that and the state-tribal relationship deserves better than that.” 

In 2018, the Oklahoma government received over $148 million dollars from tribal gambling operators, which was $10 million more than they received the previous year.

The compact does not cover sports betting nor online gambling such as bingo. However, the compact can be updated to include these forms of gambling in the future and it remains unknown if Oklahoma’s government would adopt those amendments.

The tribes have stressed that they will continue to operate their class III games on January 1 whether a new compact has been agreed upon or not. Even if an agreed between the state and tribes was reached, it would still have to go through the legislative process and would need to be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

With a major legal battle on the horizon, coming to an agreement on a new compact seems like the only way to avoid a PR disaster for the state of Oklahoma.