AUTUMN 2002

EDITORIAL

A Fine Proposition

By Matt Connor

Earlier this year, when a bill that would have allowed Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull to sign new tribal-state compacts ran aground thanks to blatant political maneuvering, Grand Canyon State tribal leaders were left feeling angry and frustrated by the inconsistent and pernicious behavior of certain state legislators.

But not for long. Almost immediately a grass-roots organization called Arizonans For Fair Gaming and Indian Self-Reliance sprang into action, launching a statewide ballot initiative that would, if passed, allow for continued limited and regulated gaming on tribal lands.

It would also provide for additional regulatory oversight by the Arizona Department of Gaming, enable nongaming tribes to benefit from gaming dollars, and send an estimated $83 million annually to the state’s coffers through a revenue-sharing program.

Next month, Proposition 202, the 17-tribe Indian Gaming Preservation and Self-Reliance Act, will be before voters, and the Legislature may come to realize that energies expended in battling a very sensible and tribe-supported piece of legislation could have been far better spent trying to improve the lives of their constituents.

Indeed, if the members of the Legislature had done as much for the general population as Indian gaming has done for the state’s Native Americans, they’d never have to worry about losing another election.

The most recent census data, for example, indicates that overall household income for Native Americans in Arizona rose 45 percent over the past decade and Indian poverty fell by about one-fourth, almost entirely due to the success of Indian gaming operations.

But while things are getting better, Native Americans continue to have the state’s highest poverty rate, 37.3 percent, or 2.5 times the overall state rate.

So far the polls seem to indicate that Prop. 202 has a good chance of  scoring with voters. Problem is, two other ballot measures involving gaming — one to expand gaming at the state’s racetracks, another sponsored by a single tribe from western Arizona — are also on the ballot, and Arizonans seem befuddled about how to vote on each one.

Let’s hope the voters of Arizona make the right choice and support the tribes’ efforts to use gaming as a tool for the betterment of Native Americans — and all citizens — of their fine state.

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