Committee on Indian Affairs United State

Indian Gaming: the Next 25 Years Committee on Indian Affairs United State

Publisher Marketing: It has been more than 25 years since Congress enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. Indian gaming stands today as a proven economic driver that empowers over 240 gaming tribes across the Nation to pursue the principles of Indian self-determination and tribal self-governance. The process of enacting IGRA was complex, but in the end, it has achieved a careful balance between the concepts of tribal sovereignty and States' rights. The gaming industry generates about $28 billion a year. In the state of Arizona, tribes collect roughly $1.8 billion a year in gaming revenues. Non-Indian communities in Arizona have also benefited under the Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compact by receiving over $1 billion in gaming shared revenues since 2002 for a variety of public benefits, including education, local governments, tourism, trauma care services and wildlife conservation. Today's oversight hearing will revisit the importance of Indian gaming by highlighting its achievements and airing the challenges that exist today, chief among which are the performance and legal limitations of the National Indian Gaming Commission as the chief Federal regulator for Indian gaming, and the matter of off-reservation gaming.