The Eastern Shoshone Tribe on Friday will launch a million expansion of the Shoshone Rose Casino, north of Lander, Wyoming on the reservation the tribe shares with the Northern Arapaho, owners of the Wind River Hotel and Casino in Riverton. The Shoshone Rose expansion, expected to open in spring 2015, will include a 65-room hotel and a new gaming floor with more than 500 slot machines and table games. It also will develop space for the future construction of an events center and expansion of the gaming floor and food services.
Shoshone Rose Casino General Manager Bob Pokorney said the new hotel will help the tribe attract players from Casper, Rock Springs and Salt Lake City. “The hotel will allow us to better tap places that are a little too far away for a day trip. These new overnight gaming visitors will also benefit other businesses in the Lander area, as guests will have more time to explore our beautiful home,” he said.
The new hotel will increase the number of jobs at the casino site to more than 130. During the year-long construction phases, between 75 and 90 jobs will be created.
Eastern Shoshone Business Council Chairman Darwin St. Clair Jr. said, “The Eastern Shoshone Tribe always had the intention of expanding the Shoshone Rose Casino. To expand our competitiveness and further economic development and employment opportunities for tribal members and the surrounding communities, we announce this next stage in the growth of our casino.”
The Northern Arapaho tribe also recently announced it plans to expand the hotel and food court at the Wind River Hotel and Casino.
In addition, that tribe recently filed a federal lawsuit to keep workers insured under the Affordable Care Act. The suit claims an Internal Revenue Service rule, the “Large Employer mandate,” improperly requires the Northern Arapaho to provide employer-based health insurance plans to 600 workers, including those working in Tribal government and the Wind River Casino. The lawsuit claims the ACA does not count tribes as Large Employers.
Tribal Councilman Darrell O’Neal said, “The Northern Arapaho Business Council fully supports what Congress and the President have accomplished with the Affordable Care Act, but the folks in the agencies have taken a wrong turn in implementing it.”
The lawsuit states, “Congress did not intend to create special benefits for working-class Native Americans, only to have Defendants promulgate regulations that prevent working-class Native Americans who work for Tribes from obtaining those benefits. Application of the Large Employer mandate to the Northern Arapaho Tribe will impose severe financial burdens on the Tribal government, decrease the Tribe’s ability to expand health care coverage and provide other essential governmental services and frustrate the intent of Congress.”
