Casino in New Mexico
But the tribe is also continuing to persuade Texas lawmakers to allow gambling again in Texas.
"This is an Indian rights issue," said Rep. Norma Chavez. (D-El Paso), who advocates expansion of Indian gaming in Texas. "It is a right of determination for what they can do for themselves."
Rep. Chavez wants to ensure that gambling activities on federally recognized Indian lands are legal. She argues that the state already allows forms of gambling with "horse racing, the state lottery and bingo."
Rep. Chavez added that the casinos would help the tribes improve their economies and education and reduce overall unemployment. The tribes have agreed to send 10 percent of gross revenues into a state college scholarship fund, totaling more than $50 million.
The Alabama-Coushatta tribe, located near Livingston in southeast Texas, operated a casino for nine months.
A Tie Vote
Legislation proposed by Rep. Chavez is still pending in Texas. Last week, a very rare tie vote in the Texas House of Representatives stopped, for now at least, a bill that would have opened the door to resumed casino gambling on the Tigua and Alabama-Coushatta tribal lands throughout Texas.The vote early Friday morning ended 66-66, blocking Rep. Chavez's bill. The bill is called House Bill 10.
The tribes hope to use the profits from gambling to fund social and education programs on their reservations, according to experts.
Texas has three federally recognized American Indian tribes: the Tiguas, the Alabama-Coushattas and the Kickapoo. The Tigua and Alabama-Coushatta ran casinos before they were shut down for violating state law. The Kickapoo currently operate a limited casino in Eagle Pass, Texas.
The Tiguas received federal recognition as a tribe in 1987 and began their gambling operation in the mid-1990s with high-stakes bingo, then added slot machines. The tribe earned about $60 million a year from its casino in El Paso.
Four years ago, a federal court agreed with then-Attorney General John Cornyn of Texas that the casino violated the state's limited gambling laws and shut it down temporarily.
Lawmakers amended the bill to limit the types of gambling, banning slots but allowing games such as high stakes bingo, poker and pull-tab games, some of which are already played at charity halls and churches.
The Texas Eagle Forum and the Baptist lobby's Christian Life Commission have worked to defeat the bill, arguing the casinos would be unregulated.
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