The North Dakota House recently voted against House Concurrent Resolution 3033 to send it back to a House committee. Earlier the Judiciary Committee had voted 13-2 to give the legislation an unfavorable recommendation. The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Al Carlson, asks/would have asked voters if they want to amend the state constitution to allow the legislature to authorize up to six state-owned casinos. The casinos could not be built within five miles of a city with a population of more than 5,000 or within 20 miles of a Native American reservation. The question will go/would have gone to voters in the 2018 primary election.
Carlson said the proposed constitutional amendment was designed to establish casinos as “destination-oriented attractions.” He added casino profits would go into the state’s general fund, with 30 percent for behavioral health and addiction treatment and 70 percent for tax relief.
Representatives from nonprofits stated they are/were concerned that state-run casinos would have a major impact on the charitable gaming profits they rely on to operate their programs. Jonathan Jorgensen, president of the board of directors for the Charitable Gaming Association of North Dakota, said, “It could affect services for tens of thousands of people, to be honest. This is not an expansion of gaming, this is an explosion of gaming,” he said.
The association represents nearly 350 licensed organizations and operates 900 gaming sites statewide.
Don Santer, chief executive officer of the North Dakota Association for the Disabled, which runs 10 gaming sites in four cities, added gaming provides 75 percent of the budget. He said state-owned casinos would take away up to 25 percent of the charities’ funds. But Carlson said, “We still think people will go to local bars and buy their pull tabs.”
According to the state Attorney General’s website, licensed charitable gaming organizations raised more than $43 million for charities during the 2013-2015 biennium.
Tribal officials also expressed opposition to the state-operated casinos. Currently, casinos are allowed only on tribal land; six are in operation. State Rep. Marvin Nelson said the state-run casinos could take customers from the reservation casinos. His district includes the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian Reservation, the location of the Sky Dancer Casino. Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox said Native American casinos provide more than 2,000 jobs and generate millions of dollars in annual revenue for the state’s five Indian reservations and neighboring communities. He noted North Dakota already has enough casinos, stating if more were added, “one is going to have to suffer for the other.”
Additionally, tribal and state relations have been strained as a result of protests against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. State Rep. Shannon Roers Jones said it had been suggested that the casino proposal was introduced to retaliate for the protests. Carlson denied the suggestion and said the casinos could assist rural areas.
