Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office recently hired the Michigan law firm Dykema Gossett for $250,000 to help the state negotiate with Oklahoma Indian tribes regarding gaming compacts. This summer, newly elected Governor Kevin Stitt said he wanted to renegotiate the agreements and suggested the state should receive a larger share of tribal gambling revenue.
Tribal leaders said they may be willing to renegotiate some of the compact terms, but they insist the existing compacts, which date back to 2004 and are set to expire on December 31, will automatically renew on January 1.
Hunter spokesman Alex Gerszewski said, “When dealing with issues as complex as compact negotiations, it is important to have experts with experience in this area. Dykema has a proven record of success in tribal compact and gaming negotiations. We believe with their help, we can achieve a successful outcome for both the state and our tribal partners.”
The current compacts require the tribes to pay the state 4 percent to 10 percent of net casino revenue in exclusivity fees. Last year, those fees brought in about $139 million for the state on $2.3 billion in revenue.
A member of the Cherokee Nation, Stitt said, “I feel like it’s my responsibility, it’s my duty as governor, to look at all contracts, especially one that affects Oklahoma’s future as big as the compact does. There’s a lot of money at stake, but as the governor of Oklahoma, I’m not going to bend to the fact that I have got to represent what’s best for all 4 million Oklahomans for the future, and I’m going to do that.”
Stitt noted, “No contract goes on in perpetuity one-sided. Whether one side feels they’re getting the raw end of the stick, there has to be mutual agreement.”
The relationship with the tribes is not adversarial, Stitt said. “This is just business. It has nothing to do with the tribes, it has nothing to do with their sovereignty, it has nothing to do with their industries.” He added, “Oklahomans are 100 percent with me.”
