Four Washington gaming tribes have updated their compacts with the Washington State Gambling Commission, the commission said July 3 in a press release. The updated compacts allow the tribes to offer electronic table games at each land-based tribal casino.
The federally recognized tribes are: The Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Spokane Tribe and Suquamish Tribe. They adopted language previously used in an amended tribal state gaming compact by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
Next a Joint Legislative Hearing will be held by the Senate Business, Financial Services, Gaming, & Trade and House Regulated Substances & Gaming Committees. Any amendments to the pact will be returned to the Gambling Commission, which will vote July 20 whether to send the amended compact to Governor Jay Inslee.
Each tribal chairman will also get one more chance for a final consideration and signature. The last word on the compacts will be the U.S. Department of the Interior, which must approve of any changes to tribal gaming compacts. Once it publishes the compacts in the Federal Register, the tribes can being offering electronic table games.
