Tribal Slot Machines Changing 

The National Indian Gaming Commission has announced that they are planning on changing the definition of the Class II slot machines. It is illegal for tribes to run Class III slot machines – the Vegas style of gambling – unless they are offered elsewhere in the state. If the tribe signs a slot machine compact with the state that it is located in, the state will most often receive some sort of slot revenue. If the state does not sign the compact and the Department of the Interior steps in, then the state will most likely not receive any slot machine revenue at all. 

Class II slot machines are essentially bingo machines, and are currently the only legal slot machine that they can offer. However, the commission is looking to change that. The U.S. Justice Department has lost several court cases lately in which government lawyers argued that Class II machines are really the same as Class III slot machines. The regulatory changes are due to an ongoing battle between the states and the tribes, where the states are looking for more control over the tribes and their slot machines, and the tribes are looking to stay independent of the states. 

If the commission manages to outlaw Class II slot machines, virtually every slot machine that is on the floor in a state that does not allow Class III slot machines would be illegal. This would mean a huge blow to the slot machine revenue that the tribes currently take in. The tribes count on those slot machines to support themselves in form of revenue and jobs. 

Some states have embraced the tribal slot machine industry, and others are still fighting it. A good example of the states learning to work with the tribes and their slot machines is the State of California. When Governor Schwarzenegger came in he planned on controlling the tribes and their slot machines. He soon learned that tribal sovereignty combined with federal law will trump any hand the state has. He has now learned to get along with the tribes; and recently signed several compacts with various tribes to significantly increase the number of slot machines that they are allowed.

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