From Maricopa Monitor – The U.S. House is making another bid to block the Tohono O’odham Nation from building a casino on land it owns near the Arizona Cardinals stadium on the edge of Glendale.
On a 35-5 vote, the Natural Resources Committee approved legislation this week that would let the tribe keep the land it purchased in 2003, a year after Arizona voters approved a measure giving tribes the exclusive right to operate casinos in exchange for a share of the profits. And it would not block the Tohono from having the land made part of the reservation.
But HR 1410 would bar until 2027 any gaming on any lands that were not part of a reservation at the time those compacts were approved. And that effectively would kill the plans for the $550 million complex anchored by a casino and hotel.
The vote drew sharp criticism Thursday from tribal Chairman Ned Norris Jr. In a prepared statement, he said panel members “chose politics over the facts.’’
Norris also said proponents made “multiple misleading and outrageous statements,’’ including one by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., that failure to approve this law means “a dangerous precedent would be set leading to the expansion of off-reservation casinos in Arizona and in other states.’’ That is based on the argument by the Tohono that existing law allowing them to build the casino applies to them and them only and would have no effect elsewhere.
Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, the only other Arizonan on the panel, voted against the measure.
There likely are enough votes for HR 1410 to clear the House. A similar measure gained House approval last year on a 343-78 vote.
But that legislation did not even get a hearing in the Senate.
