I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4893 

To amend section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to restrict offreservation gaming. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2006 

Mr. POMBO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources 

A BILL 

To amend section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 

to restrict off-reservation gaming. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. RESTRICTION ON OFF-RESERVATION GAMING. 

4 Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 

5 U.S.C. 2719) is amended— 

6 (1) by amending subsection (b)(1) to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(b)(1) Subsection (a) will not apply when lands are 

9 taken in trust for the benefit of an Indian tribe that is 

10 newly recognized, restored, or landless after the date of 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•HR 4893 IH 

1 the enactment of subsection (f), including those newly rec2 ognized under the Federal Acknowledgment Process at the 

3 Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the following criteria are 

4 met: 

5 ‘‘(A) The Secretary determines that such lands 

6 are within the State of such tribe and are within the 

7 primary geographic, social, historical, and temporal 

8 nexus of the Indian tribe. 

9 ‘‘(B) The Secretary determines that the pro10 posed gaming activity would not be detrimental to 

11 the surrounding community and nearby Indian 

12 tribes. 

13 ‘‘(C) The Governor and State legislature of the 

14 State in which the gaming activities will be con15 ducted concur. 

16 ‘‘(D) The Indian tribes within 75 miles of the 

17 proposed tribal trust land acquisition concur. 

18 ‘‘(E) The regional Bureau office shall not rec19 ommend a tribal application for trust land acquisi20 tion for the purposes of gaming, in accordance with 

21 this section, until after the county or parish govern22 ment with authority over the land that is contiguous 

23 to the lands applied to be taken into trust has held 

24 an advisory referendum, paid for by the tribal appli25 cant, to determine whether the residents of that 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•HR 4893 IH 

1 county or parish support or oppose the Indian tribe’s 

2 application to conduct gaming regulated by this Act. 

3 Regardless of the result of the referendum, for the 

4 purposes of the Indian tribe mitigating the direct 

5 impact on the county or parish infrastructure, and 

6 to include a direct payment to mitigate county or 

7 parish infrastructure costs, the Indian tribe shall ne8 gotiate and sign a memorandum of understanding 

9 with the county or parish government. Such mitiga10 tion payments shall be limited to the direct effects 

11 of the tribal gaming activities on the affected county 

12 or parish infrastructure and services. If a memo13 randum of understanding is not signed within one 

14 year after the advisory referendum, both parties 

15 shall submit to mandatory binding arbitration to 

16 agree upon such a memorandum of understanding.’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub19 sections: 

20 ‘‘(e)(1) In order to consolidate class II gaming and 

21 class III gaming development, an Indian tribe may host 

22 one or more other Indian tribes to participate in or benefit 

23 from gaming conducted under this Act and in conform24 ance with a Tribal-State compact entered into by each in25 vited Indian tribe and the State under this Act upon any 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•HR 4893 IH 

1 portion of Indian land that was, as of October 17, 1988, 

2 located within the boundaries of the reservation of the host 

3 Indian tribe, so long as each invited Indian tribe has no 

4 ownership interest in any other gaming facility on any 

5 other Indian lands and has its primary geographic, social, 

6 historical, and temporal nexus to land in the State in 

7 which the Indian land of the host Indian tribe is located. 

8 ‘‘(2) An Indian tribe invited to conduct class II gam9 ing or class III gaming under paragraph (1) may do so 

10 under authority of a lease with the host Indian tribe. Such 

11 a lease shall be lawful without the review or approval of 

12 the Secretary and shall be deemed by the Secretary to be 

13 sufficient evidence of the existence of Indian land of the 

14 invited Indian tribe for purposes of Secretarial approval 

15 of a Tribal-State compact under this Act. 

16 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

17 Indian tribes identified in paragraph (1) may establish the 

18 terms and conditions of their lease and other agreements 

19 between them in their sole discretion, except that in no 

20 case may the total payments to the host Indian tribe under 

21 the lease and other agreements exceed 40 percent of the 

22 net revenues (defined for such purposes as the revenue 

23 available to the 2 Indian tribes after deduction of costs 

24 of operating and financing the gaming facility developed 

25 on the leased land and of fees due to be paid under the 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•HR 4893 IH 

1 Tribal-State compact) of the gaming activity conducted by 

2 the invited Indian tribe. 

3 ‘‘(4) An invited Indian tribe under this subsection 

4 shall be deemed by the Secretary and the Commission to 

5 have the sole proprietary interest and responsibility for the 

6 conduct of any gaming on lands leased from a host Indian 

7 tribe. 

8 ‘‘(5) Conduct of gaming by an invited Indian tribe 

9 on lands leased from a host Indian tribe under this sub10 section shall be deemed by the Secretary and the Commis11 sion to be conducted under the Act upon Indian lands— 

12 ‘‘(A) of the invited Indian tribe; 

13 ‘‘(B) within the jurisdiction of the invited In14 dian tribe; and 

15 ‘‘(C) over which the invited Indian tribe has 

16 and exercises governmental power. 

17 ‘‘(6) Any lease agreement authorized by this section 

18 shall not be valid unless it is— 

19 ‘‘(A) consistent with the Tribal-State com20 pacting laws of the State in which the gaming activi21 ties will be conducted; 

22 ‘‘(B) approved by an Act of the State legisla23 ture; and 

24 ‘‘(C) approved by the Governor of the State. 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•HR 4893 IH 

1 ‘‘(f) An Indian tribe shall not conduct gaming regu2 lated by this Act on Indian lands outside of a State in 

3 which the Indian tribe has a reservation on the date of 

4 the enactment of this subsection, unless such Indian lands 

5 are contiguous to such a reservation of that Indian tribe 

6 in that State.’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 

8 The amendment made by paragraph (1) of section 

9 1 shall be applied prospectively. Compacts or other agree10 ments that govern gaming regulated by the Indian Gam11 ing Regulatory Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) on 

12 Indian lands that were in effect on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act shall not be affected by the amendments 

14 made by paragraph (1) of section 1 of this Act. 

Æ 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS