Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber recently sent a letter to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) asking the agency to reject a proposal that could allow Indian tribes to buy land in the city and develop a casino, dodging local opposition that has prevented gambling expansion in Miami.
In his letter, Gelber stated the proposed rule “represents a seismic shift in policy that will allow casinos and gambling operators to force casinos into cities, notwithstanding well-founded and long-standing objections, and regardless of how incompatible they may be with the local economy and quality of life.’’
According to attorney Thomas Gede, a consultant to Miami Beach, the new rule would allow tribes to purchase off-reservation land, have it taken into federal trust and benefit from the same exemptions offered to casinos on Indian land−such as paying no property taxes, exemptions from environmental and zoning regulations and limited oversight of state and local law enforcement.
In his letter, Gelber wrote the BIA’s plan “can and will facilitate and hasten the introduction of off-reservation Indian gaming casinos.” He warned that the proposed federal rule would eliminate a provision requiring the Secretary of the Interior “to listen to and give ‘greater weight’ to the state and local governments on these issues when the acquisition is for ‘off-reservation’ lands.“
BIA officials said the new rule would streamline numerous previous rulings and opinions going back decades in regard to tribal land acquisition. In its Federal Register notice, the BIA stated, “This proposed rule seeks to make the land-into-trust process more efficient, simpler and less expensive to support restoration of tribal homelands.”
Gede said, “This isn’t a slam dunk but it is a question of opening the door and easing the ability of a tribe to get an off-reservation parcel.”
However, attorney Marc Dunbar, who has represented the Seminole Tribe and private casino operators, said, “There is no tribe that can assert any off-reservation play in the city of Miami Beach that the city could not block by just blocking it in City Hall. Locals still have a very important role in Interior approval, and it always has. Interior does not jam gaming down locals’ throats, particularly if it’s an off-reservation site, or a new reservation.”
Dunbar added, “There are a lot of people looking for boogeyman in this but there really are legitimate clarification issues for people outside of Florida and nothing in this changes anything about Florida.”
Even if the federal government formally approves the proposed rule, it will not take effect immediately, Gede said. First, it must be published in the Federal Register and the Office of Management and Budget and Congress have the power to either allow it to go through or to invalidate it. It could also be stopped in a legal challenge.
