In North Dakota, Republican state Rep. Al Carlson of Fargo sponsored a measure to allow six state-owned casinos. Currently the only casinos in the state are located on its five Native American reservations. Observers said the proposal is a threat of payback for the millions of dollars the state has spent on law enforcement and other costs related to the Dakota Access pipeline protests.
Democratic state Rep. Pam Anderson, also from Fargo, said, “It‘s another direct consequence of the pipeline protests, no question.” Democratic State Senator Richard Marcellais, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, said Carlson’s casino measure is designed to hurt Indian casinos. “It‘s racist. I feel like going over there and knocking Carlson through the window.”
But Carlson said his bill is not “anti-American Indian,” but a way to establish casinos as “destination-oriented attractions” that could produce revenue to lessen or eliminate state sales tax and corporate income tax.
North Dakota tribes led protests against the 4-state, $3.8 billion pipeline. Tribal leaders said it threatens their drinking water and cultural site; the pipeline developer disputes those claims.
Patrick Packineau, general manager of the Four Bears Casino on the Fort Berthold Reservation, said North Dakota already has enough casinos. “The state of North Dakota has a limited market, as far as gamblers. Additional casinos would only cannibalize the market even further,” he said. Unlike the state’s other casinos, the Fort Berthold Reservation also receives revenue from oil reserves.
Carlson’s bill is a proposed constitutional amendment and does not require the signature of Republican Governor Doug Burgum, elected last November. Although he has signed measures making it a crime for adults to wear masks and increasing penalties for rioting and trespassing—both aimed at pipeline protestors–Burgum said, “The state should not be getting into the casino ownership business.”
