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7 NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION MEETING

8 MAY 4TH, 2017

9 MISSISSIPPI COAST CONVENTION CENTER

10 2350 BEACH BOULEVARD

11 BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI 39531

12 COMMENCING AT APPROXIMATELY 1:05 P.M.

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1 MR. CHAUDHURI: Okay, I guess we'll go

2 ahead and begin. And thank you all for being here.

3 Before we get into introductions and, you know, more

4 substantive part of the program, we always strive to

5 open these Consultations in the right way. Today,

6 we're very honored to have Mr. Glendale Willis from

7 Mississippi Band of Choctaw available to open us up

8 with a blessing.

9 (OPENING BLESSING)

10 MR. CHAUDHURI: Again, Mr. Willis, thank

11 you so much for agreeing to open us up. And this is on

12 behalf of the Agency. And thanks to Christinia Thomas.

13 MR. WILLIS: Thank you, ma'am.

14 MR. CHAUDHURI: And so we'll go ahead and

15 begin. I know we'll probably have some stragglers come

16 in a little bit later, but my name is Jonodev

17 Chaudhuri. I'm honored to be here. I'm the Chairman

18 of NIGC, I'm Muscogee Creek, and Bengal from India.

19 And so again, we want to thank everybody for

20 taking the time to be here. Consultation is

21 extraordinarily important to all of us at NIGC. We

22 have an ongoing commitment to never put pen to paper on

23 a matter of substantive importance without engaging

24 with meaningful dialogue with Indian country and

25 regulatory partners.
3

1 I'm going to turn it over to my fellow

2 Commissioners, who will speak a little bit more about

3 the importance of today's discussion. But again, I

4 want to thank you all for taking the time to be here,

5 and I very much look forward to a fruitful Consultation

6 today. We're going to turn it over to our Vice Chair.

7 MS. ISOM-CLAUSE: Thank you all for being

8 here. It's nice to see familiar faces and some new

9 faces, too. I really appreciate you all braving the

10 weather. It's a small room, but for our

11 transcriptionist back here.

12 As the Chairman mentioned, we're here to honor

13 the relationship between Tribes and the Federal

14 Government, and the best way that we can do that is

15 through the Consultation. So we thank you all again

16 for being here and participating with us in this

17 process.

18 I think I'll also keep it brief on Chairman's

19 starting with what he said. We're all a little tired

20 today, I think. What I wanted to mention is that we're

21 all developing a strategic plan that Chairman mentioned

22 earlier this morning that will be in effect for the

23 next four years. We're not going to talk about that

24 directly today, but many of our topics today are part

25 of the strategic plan. So any comments that we hear
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1 from you will also be used to inform that process. So

2 we'll give you more opportunity to comment on the

3 actual strategic plan in the future, but we don't have

4 the full details and the timing of that, so we'll let

5 you know as that becomes available.

6 And finally, our door is always open. Please

7 come speak with us at any point beyond the Consultation

8 sessions today, and we look forward to hearing your

9 comments.

10 MR. SIMERMEYER: Good afternoon. My name

11 is Sequoyah Simermeyer. I'm a member of the Coharie

12 Tribe, and I'm Associate Commissioner of the NIGC's

13 Gaming Commission.

14 So I want to join my colleagues in thanking

15 you all for the time it took to participate and prepare

16 for this today, and reiterate the importance of

17 Consultation and the opportunity that we have to define

18 and maintain the governmental relationship that we

19 have. So thank you for your time, thank you for your

20 feedback both today and in the coming weeks as we work

21 together in partnership. So thank you.

22 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you, fellow

23 Commissioners. We have a number of housekeeping

24 matters to discuss, but really, I want to stress that

25 this is a conversation, it's a dialogue. And so even
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1 though we have a number of housekeeping matters to go

2 over, I don't want this to be anymore formal than it

3 has to be. I want this to be a two-way conversation.

4 We're here to answer questions to the best of our

5 abilities, but we're also joined by many members of our

6 team who will serve as technical experts today who can

7 also contribute to the discussion.

8 That said, today's consultation will be

9 transcribed, as Commissioner Simermeyer mentioned. We

10 have a transcriptionist here. I would ask anybody who

11 offers a comment, for benefit of -- really, for the

12 benefit of folks who aren't able to be here today, who

13 will be reading the comments in transcript form, please

14 state your name, as well as your Tribal affiliation,

15 and what organization you're with. So I know we often

16 have a blend of Tribal leadership and regulators at our

17 Consultations, which we're very happy about, because as

18 an extension of the nation-to-nation relationship, we

19 absolutely value Tribal leadership input. But in

20 addition to leadership, we also absolutely value the

21 Commissions' and TGRA's input as well, because we are

22 regulatory partners with our fellow regulators. And so

23 please state your name, title, Tribal affiliation, and

24 the nation you are representing for benefit of the

25 transcriptionist.
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1 And that leads me to another housekeeping

2 point. This is a Consultation, so we are here

3 primarily to hear input from Tribal leadership and

4 Tribal regulators; however, we also recognize that

5 Tribal nations also designate spokespeople to provide

6 comments on their behalf. And that is fine as well.

7 But our main priority is making sure regulators and

8 leadership have an opportunity to speak.

9 Along those lines, if there's anybody here

10 who's not representing a Tribal nation in a formal

11 capacity, please let us know. We will have room to

12 hear all comments if all comments from Tribal

13 leadership and Tribal regulators have been exhausted.

14 We want this to be a free-flow conversation, but we

15 would like to know who's representing who. And again,

16 that's for the purpose of honoring the nation-to-nation

17 relationship.

18 So before getting into more housekeeping

19 details, if we could go around the room, rather than

20 introducing all NIGC folks here, we have a lot of folks

21 who are here at the conference today, and as I

22 mentioned earlier this morning, that's by design. We

23 want our regulatory partners to know us by first names

24 so that we're available to answer questions and provide

25 assistance whenever and wherever possible. But rather
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1 than introduce all the NIGC folks, I'll just have us

2 introduce ourselves as we go around in a circle.

3 Again, it's always good to know who we're sharing with.

4 And so with that, if we could go in this

5 direction, and we'll start with Mr. Waldo.

6 MR. WALDO: Good morning, everyone.

7 Travis Waldo, Director of Technology, NIGC.

8 MS. LEE: Yvonne Lee, Director of Finance

9 for the National Indian Gaming Commission.

10 MS. WILKERSON: Julie Wilkerson, Tribal

11 Attorney, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians.

12 MS. SMITH: Cheryl Smith, Tribal Chief,

13 Jean Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana.

14 MS. WILLIAMSON: Lillie Williamson, Tribal

15 Council, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians.

16 MS. PHILLIPS: Tanya Phillips, Assistant

17 Attorney General for the Pearl River Resort Mississippi

18 Band of Choctaw Indians.

19 MS. SMILEY: Sharon Smiley, Chairman of

20 the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Gaming Commission.

21 MR. STABLER: Justin Stabler, Commissioner

22 for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Gaming Commission.

23 MR. FIELD: I'm Mark Field, Director of

24 Poarch Band of Creek Indians NGC.

25 MS. ALFARO: Lucia Alfaro, Gaming
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1 Commissioner, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

2 MS. BAKER: Trisha Baker, Commissioner,

3 Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

4 MR. AMOS: Roger Amos, Inspector with the

5 Choctaw Gaming Commission, Mississippi Band of Choctaw

6 Indians.

7 MR. JIM: Jarred Jim, Game Inspector,

8 Mississippi Band.

9 MS. CARSON: Bea Carson, Chairman of the

10 Choctaw Gaming Commission, Mississippi Band of Choctaw

11 Indians.

12 MS. COOPER: Linda Cooper, outside counsel

13 for the Gaming Commission, Mississippi Band of Choctaw

14 Indians.

15 MS. WILLIS: Glendale Willis, Associate

16 Commissioner of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw

17 Indians.

18 MR. BREWER: Steve Brewer, Training

19 Manager for the National Indian Gaming Commission.

20 MS. THOMAS: Good afternoon. Christinia

21 Thomas. I'm the Deputy Chief of Staff of the National

22 Indian Gaming Commission. I'm also a member of the

23 Mille Lacs Band of Ojibewe out of Minnesota.

24 MR. HOENIG: Michael Hoenig. I'm the

25 General Counsel of the National Indian Gaming
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1 Commission.

2 MR. CHAUDHURI: And Ms. Altimus?

3 MS. ALTIMUS: I am no one of any

4 significant importance.

5 MR. CHAUDHURI: We all know Cindy. We're

6 very happy to have our original Director here, Ms.

7 Cindy Altimus.

8 So let's go over a few housekeeping

9 matters. Again, we don't want this to be anymore

10 formal than it has to be. We want this to be a

11 dialogue. But we're scheduled to go til 5:00 today.

12 If everybody has shared what they want to share today

13 and we are done earlier than that, there's no crime or

14 shame in finishing early. We may very well finish

15 early. But I do want everybody to have the full

16 opportunity to share.

17 We're here to discuss a number of topics, and

18 the way that this is all structured, we'll have a

19 subject matter expert from NIGC provide some background

20 for a given topic, and then we'll open that topic up

21 for discussion, and then move on to the next topic.

22 At the end of all topics, we'll have a

23 catch-all section where we allow for any additional

24 comments regarding any of the previous topics. And if

25 we have time, if all comments are exhausted, we want
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1 folks to feel free to share their perspectives on any

2 areas that NIGC could improve its work in. But let me

3 go through those topics in the order we'll address

4 them, and who's going to be speaking to each of them

5 now.

6 First we're going to hear about Rural

7 Outreach. And we have Steve Brewer, our Training

8 Manager, who will be providing background on that.

9 Our second topic will be Developing a Strong

10 Tribal Workforce Through Training. Again, Mr. Steve

11 Brewer will provide background.

12 Our third topic will be Management Contract

13 Regulations and Procedures. Our Finance Director, Ms.

14 Yvonne Lee, will be providing background on that.

15 Our fourth topic will be Technical Standards

16 for Mobile Gaming Devices. Our Technology Division

17 Director, Mr. Travis Waldo, will be our subject matter

18 person for that.

19 Fifth topic we'll be discussing some proposed

20 actions regarding fees. Again, Ms. Lee will be

21 providing background on that.

22 And sixth, we will be discussing Proposed

23 Draft Guidance, Voluntary Draft Guidance Regarding

24 Class III Minimum Internal Controls. And our Deputy

25 Chief of Staff, Ms. Christinia Thomas, will be
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1 providing background.

2 So as we go through these, I want us to keep

3 the purpose of these discussions in mind. We value and

4 welcome all comments. We never want folks to leave

5 thinking, oh, I wish I had said this, I wish I had said

6 that. If on the drive home you think of a comment that

7 you wish you had made, we will be happy to receive

8 written comments after today as well, and we welcome

9 any -- we'd be very happy if you would attend our other

10 Consultations. We have one more, let's see, one more

11 Consultation on these topics scheduled for May 25th in

12 the northwest area, in the Portland area. It's going

13 to be held in connection with the timing of the

14 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Conference. And

15 that will be 1:30 to 5:30 p.m., May 25th. So there

16 will be additional opportunities to submit written

17 comments. And we encourage folks to help get the word

18 out about attending our next upcoming Consultation.

19 At the end of June, we will be compiling all

20 comments that have been received for this Consultation

21 period, and internally compiling them and going over

22 them, as well as the transcripts from these

23 Consultations, to work on deliverables from this round

24 of Consultations. We have made a commitment in the

25 past to work with all diligence on moving forward with
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1 potential deliverables on topics of Consultations. We

2 thank you for your past participation. And

3 specifically, we held previous Consultations last year

4 on some important topics. Please keep an eye out for

5 some deliverables in the coming weeks on those topics.

6 But that's how today is going to be

7 structured. Again, I don't want this to be anymore

8 formal than it has to be, but if there are any

9 questions at any time, please feel free to ask. If it

10 looks like we're going to be using all of our time,

11 we'll try and work in a break, a stretch-your-legs

12 break, but if we're moving along pretty quickly, we'll

13 finish early.

14 So with that, I think we can move forward with

15 our first topic. Mr. Steve Brewer, would you like to

16 discuss Rural Outreach?

17 MR. BREWER: I would. Thank you. Good

18 afternoon. The NIGC would like to consult with you on

19 the Rural Outreach Initiative. We all know in Indian

20 Country that most of our Tribal lands are in rural

21 areas. Reaching out to smaller gaming operations that

22 may not be situated near a strong market is an

23 important initiative of the Agency.

24 The NIGC recognizes a likely correlation

25 between proximity to large population centers, and the
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1 viability of economic opportunities for those Tribes.

2 Therefore, NIGC appreciates that its functions will

3 likely benefit from a greater understanding of the

4 unique needs of smaller operations.

5 NIGC has historically taken into account the

6 needs and capabilities of smaller gaming operations

7 through its regulations. For instance, NIGC's

8 regulations for Minimum Internal Control Standards and

9 accounting requirements differ between Tier A

10 facilities that earn less than eight million, Tier B

11 facilities that earn between eight and fifteen million,

12 and Tier C facilities that earn over fifteen million.

13 And we know from Annual Gross Gaming Revenue that the

14 majority of Tribal gaming operations throughout Indian

15 Country are smaller facilities with lower gross gaming

16 revenue. Many small rural gaming operations provide

17 their communities with much-needed jobs, but may earn

18 little net revenue to support Tribal government

19 services.

20 The Commission has a responsibility to review

21 the regulations to assure that compliance is reasonable

22 and achievable for all Tribal operations, while

23 protecting the integrity of gaming as a whole. The

24 NIGC may find through this Consultation and from your

25 comments that current regulations could be amended to
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1 better address the regulatory needs of smaller

2 operations.

3 In addition, the NIGC provides technical

4 assistance and training to all Tribes and enforces IGRA

5 and its regulations to ensure Tribes are the primary

6 beneficiaries of their gaming operations.

7 In order to better meet the technical

8 assistance and training needs of small rural Tribes,

9 the Commission is also considering creating an eighth

10 region that would include North Dakota, South Dakota,

11 Wyoming, and Montana. These states are currently

12 served out of the St. Paul Region, which is the largest

13 administrative region of the agency, and currently

14 covers nine states, fifty-nine Tribes, and a hundred

15 and forty-four gaming operations. To help address the

16 need of more western Tribes in the region, in 2003, the

17 Rapid City satellite office was added to the St. Paul

18 Region to better the Tribal gaming operations in North

19 Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.

20 By splitting up the St. Paul and Rapid City

21 offices into separate administrative regions, the St.

22 Paul regional office would then cover only five states,

23 Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nebraska,

24 which would consist of thirty-seven Tribes, and

25 ninety-five Tribal gaming operations. The new Rapid
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1 City regional office would cover four states, Montana,

2 Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, which is

3 twenty-two Tribes, and forty-five Tribal gaming

4 operations. This split will not take away resources or

5 budget from any region, and only split the resources

6 between the St. Paul and Rapid City offices.

7 The NIGC would like to hear any questions or

8 feedback, and ask specifically for any discussion and

9 comments about whether regulatory revisions are needed

10 that protect Tribal gaming revenue and the integrity of

11 Indian gaming, while not burdening smaller operations;

12 whether NIGC should adjust the way we do businesses in

13 our training technical assistance and compliance

14 efforts to provide better assistance where needed; and

15 finally, with the NIGC should create an eighth region

16 to provide a stronger connection to Tribes located in

17 North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Thank

18 you.

19 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you, Steve. So

20 we'll just open it up for questions, comments, any

21 dialogue. And I do want to mention what Vice Chair

22 mentioned about being tired. Thank you so very much

23 for being here. I know many folks, like all of us, got

24 caught up in travel weather-related delays and what

25 have you. You know, I'm still working off of zero
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1 sleep after having driven in from Houston this morning.

2 So I know it's taken a lot to be here, but I think we

3 get a lot done when we communicate with each other and

4 work together in mutual -- in the spirit of mutual

5 interest. And that mutual interest is, you know,

6 supporting the integrity of Indian gaming. And so

7 thank you very much for being here. Let's open it up

8 to questions and comments.

9 MS. WILKERSON: With regard to expanding

10 the Rapid City region, it sounds like it's not taking

11 money, say, from this region, where you have Poarch,

12 Mississippi, and Coushatta, and Jena represented, but

13 could you give us a little background? It's obvious

14 that there's a need there for Rapid City, and it seems

15 like this may have been in the works for a little bit,

16 and in asking our feedback, if we could understand a

17 little more of the eastern region. BIA has asked

18 several things sometimes, and had worked on it for a

19 long time to get what they needed, so I just wanted a

20 little background for that.

21 MR. CHAUDHURI: Absolutely. And thank you

22 for that question. Again, Christinia over there.

23 MS. THOMAS: As in background, the reason

24 that we're tying it to Rural Outreach is because of the

25 Tribes that are in that area, and wanting to heighten
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1 the type of -- the amount of technical assistance and

2 view, I guess, how often we're on the ground in that

3 particular area is why we're looking at trading that as

4 its own particular region so that we can kind of focus

5 more on the Tribes that are in North and South Dakota,

6 Montana, and Wyoming.

7 And St. Paul, like, administratively is the

8 largest administrative regional office we have, and

9 that's a lot of space to put on one regional office and

10 one regional director to try and manage everything

11 within those nine Tribes. So from an administrative

12 and from an efficiency purpose, it makes sense to split

13 them so that we can focus on those Tribes in those four

14 states.

15 MS. WILKERSON: I take it those Tribes are

16 very excited about this?

17 MS. THOMAS: Well, they're not objecting

18 to it.

19 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you for that

20 question. I don't want anyone to feel locked into just

21 the scope of the regional split.

22 Let me give a good example of how, you know,

23 honest dialogue actually leads to action on the part of

24 NIGC. We talk about our focus on rural outreach.

25 There are a lot of things that we do as an agency that
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1 kind of blends -- that maybe falls into one or two --

2 I'm sorry, two or more initiatives. A good example of

3 that is our IT Vulnerability Assessments. And why am I

4 talking about that?

5 Let me go through very briefly our four

6 initiatives right now. One is focus on technology.

7 Another one is strengthening the workforce both at NIGC

8 and among our regulatory partners. Third one is

9 protecting against gamesmanship on the backs of Tribes.

10 And the fourth -- the first one I said was rural

11 outreach, right? I said technology. The fourth is

12 rural outreach.

13 Well, our IT Vulnerability Assessments grow

14 out of both the technology and rural outreach

15 commitments. But even though they're the brainchild of

16 our Director, Travis Waldo, as well as our Deputy Chief

17 of Staff, as well as another member of our team, Sean

18 Mason, they really addressed a need that came about in

19 a conversation very similar to this in California. We

20 had one regulator talking about some of the capacity

21 restraints that a given Tribe had, largely because of

22 budgetary issues. And those capacity restraints led to

23 quite a bit of reliance on vendors for IT services.

24 And this regulator raised concerns about how much they

25 had to rely on a vendor for IT services. And it
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1 prompted a lot of internal discussion at NIGC about

2 what could we do to support some of those rural

3 communities with those capacity issues a little bit

4 better. And that kind of helped paved the way for the

5 great ideas that Travis, and Christinia, and Sean all

6 came up with. I always give Travis all the credit, but

7 I'm trying to include Christinia and Sean in there,

8 too. But that came from just an offhand comment

9 somebody made about having to rely on vendors, and it

10 got us thinking and got us working on it. So it helped

11 lead to the technology division, it helped lead to IT

12 Vulnerability Assessments.

13 Please don't feel locked into just the

14 regional discussion. We want to hear about anything

15 that we could be doing, and anything that we do that

16 could better support smaller or rural operations,

17 keeping in mind, even the biggest operations typically

18 had to start somewhere. And so we all have experience,

19 I mean, regardless of how established an operation is,

20 most everybody does have experience with the smaller

21 rural challenges.

22 MS. ISOM-CLAUSE: I wanted to add, we have

23 an end for the comment period, but that's certainly not

24 the end of the discussion on Rural Outreach and on any

25 of the other issues. These are ongoing discussions,
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1 but we just kind of want to be able to move forward

2 with current proposals. That's no way cutting off the

3 conversation, so please feel free to let us know about

4 other things you may think about, as the Chairman

5 mentioned, on the drive home, or whenever you may think

6 about them. Thank you.

7 MR. CHAUDHURI: The drive home, or sitting

8 in the airport with a canceled flight. Whatever the

9 case may be. I'm sorry. Knock on wood.

10 Anything else anybody wants to add before we

11 move on to the next topic?

12 MR. SIMERMEYER: I just wanted to, before

13 we wrapped up the discussion about the Rural Outreach,

14 just encourage you to think about it as my colleagues

15 have. And it's a good opportunity to both address

16 efficiencies that can be made, and also to look at how

17 we're preparing for innovation that comes forward. So

18 I think there is a lot of overlap in some other areas.

19 And for me, and I know the Chair identified this as an

20 early initiative for him, I think there's a lot of

21 opportunity there. So thanks for your continued

22 thoughts about this topic.

23 MR. CHAUDHURI: And again, we'll have a

24 catch-all opportunity at the end if any ideas about any

25 of these topics come to mind. We want everybody to
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1 feel free to bring them up at the end.

2 So we'll go ahead and move forward with our

3 next topic, and that will also be framed by Steve

4 Brewer, and that topic is Developing a Strong Tribal

5 Workforce Through Training.

6 MR. BREWER: Hello, I'm still Steve

7 Brewer.

8 A strong workforce is an essential ingredient

9 to the success of any business. The NIGC believes that

10 one of our best assets is our employees, and recognizes

11 that this is also the case for Tribal Gaming

12 Operations. With this in mind, the Commission has

13 prioritized supporting a strong workforce, both within

14 NIGC and among our Tribal regulatory partners, as one

15 of its four initiatives.

16 In order to foster a strong Tribal workforce,

17 the NIGC seeks to enhance our external training program

18 to ensure that it continues to meet the needs and

19 demands of the industry. To that end, we take this

20 opportunity to update you on the direction and

21 commitment of our training program, and to consult with

22 you on how we can deliver a better training program to

23 meet the needs of our Tribal Regulatory Partners.

24 Currently the NICG offers three types of

25 training events. The Regional Training Conferences,
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1 which are trainings derived from our training catalog

2 and are based on the needs of the region where training

3 is occurring. Regulating Gaming Technology, which is

4 geared towards providing both an understanding of a

5 variety of technologies on a casino floor, and

6 strategies on how to effectively regulate and

7 understand such technology. It should be noted that

8 the RGT training for 2007 has been suspended to allow

9 time to revamp the training, and to make sure new

10 technologies are included. It is anticipated that a

11 new RGT course will resume in 2018. And finally, Site

12 Specific Trainings. These are trainings requested by a

13 Tribe to meet the individual needs of its Tribal

14 government, gaming commission, regulators, and

15 operators.

16 The NIGC has developed some assessment tools

17 that Tribes can request at no cost. The first

18 assessment opportunity is the Information Technology

19 Vulnerability Assessment, or ITVA. The ITVA is

20 performed by NIGC IT auditors who complete a

21 Vulnerability Analysis of a facility's IT system to

22 identify potential security threats. The second type

23 of assessment is an Internal Control Assessment, or

24 ICA, performed by audit staff. This can be a

25 comprehensive review of a Tribal gaming facility's
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1 entire system of internal controls, or a limited review

2 such as an internal audit or cage operations.

3 Based on the findings of either a completed

4 ITVA or ICA, the training program can then develop

5 targeted training specific to the need of the Tribe.

6 All NIGC training is developed for our Tribal

7 customers. The training request process is used to

8 shape and deliver training courses and programs that

9 are uniquely tailored to each organization based on

10 their specific needs and requests.

11 The NIGC training program is currently

12 undergoing a process to revamp, revise, and update all

13 of our training offerings.

14 The NIGC is committed to craft trainings that

15 are carefully targeted to meet the evolving needs of

16 our regulatory partners, and address high priority

17 matters critical to safeguarding the Indian Gaming

18 industry.

19 In this manner, the NIGC training program is

20 in the process of revising its instructor-led training

21 courses to provide for a more interactive and hands-on

22 approach.

23 As a commitment to the value we have put on

24 training, we have recently brought in additional staff

25 to help develop our training platform and assist with
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1 incorporating new methods of training. Additionally,

2 we are utilizing more technology in our training

3 offerings. We are working towards offering on-line and

4 on-demand training and for live videoconferencing

5 events.

6 With the kickoff of our current training year,

7 the NIGC has included several new training classes,

8 including a twelve-hour comprehensive training for

9 Internal Audit, a twelve hour hands-on workshop for

10 TICS/SICS development, a new Gamesmanship 2.0 training,

11 and a new IT training relating to auditing the Class II

12 control standards as, a part, 543.20. Each training is

13 designed to be interactive and a hands-on approach. We

14 are in the process of revising our full training

15 catalog to reflect these new training opportunities.

16 In 2016, the NIGC instituted Knowledge Reviews

17 in certain audit courses. The intent of the Knowledge

18 Review is to review the effectiveness of our training.

19 The testing is performed at two points: First upon

20 completion of a training class to understand what the

21 student learned; and second, another test is performed

22 ninety days later to see if the student retained the

23 information.

24 For 2017, the NIGC is expanding the Knowledge

25 Reviews for all courses offered by the NIGC.
25

1 The NIGC is interested in learning from you

2 about what our training program can do to meet the

3 needs of your operations, what additional types of

4 training or events you would like to see, what more can

5 our training program do to help Tribes stay abreast of

6 emerging trends in Indian Gaming, including

7 technological development such as online and on-demand

8 training, Smartphone, or tablet apps, or other

9 technology. Or do you have any other comment or

10 concerns you would like to share? We look forward to

11 hearing from you. Thanks.

12 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you, Steve. This is

13 a very comfortable crowd. You guys are on a good path.

14 We'll take that as a vote of confidence. Silence is a

15 good thing.

16 MS. WILKERSON: Julie Wilkerson, Jena Band

17 of Choctaw Indians. It's really a comment. Based on

18 the recommendation from Keith, the Tribal Council asked

19 for the Internal Control Assessment last year. Ms.

20 Altimus, Cindy, came, Rest West, we got to know Rest

21 very well, and I was trying to remember from IT, we got

22 the IT golden bill to hand the ICA. And it resulted

23 that this year when we turned in our AUP, or I think

24 we'll give credit also for the ICA, and the Chief will

25 agree that our compliance folks at the casino were so
26

1 happy because the number of findings, or the things

2 that were noted in our AUP audit were substantially

3 down. And I think a lot of that was helpful because

4 they got the findings from NIGC. Management took it to

5 heart, and I think they began working on it to make

6 changes and corrections, and just making a more

7 efficient better way to do things.

8 So my comment is, thank you for offering this.

9 I think we are seeing results at Jena Choctaw casino as

10 a result of Keith's recommendation and everyone coming

11 in from NIGC and being there on site. And it's not

12 just, you know -- of course management's first thing

13 was, they're going to be here how long; they're going

14 to be doing what? But it's really good, because they

15 came in and met with Council, and Commission, and

16 Management to say, here's what we're doing, laid it all

17 out, and then hands-on, and were right there for

18 several weeks. We found it very helpful. And the

19 results are, look at our AUP. And we still have things

20 that I think everyone will always have, but this was

21 helpful. So just a comment.

22 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you so much, Ms.

23 Wilkerson. That's exactly how it's supposed to work.

24 I mean, the idea is these assessments are one of the

25 purest forms of technical assistance that we can
27

1 provide. And so it's always more efficient to work to

2 address things early in a collaborative fashion rather

3 than let things get to the point that they have to be

4 addressed solely through the compliance arm of things.

5 And so if we can flag things early and put together a

6 plan about how to address them as quickly as possible,

7 that's kind of the gold standard. So thank you so much

8 for that.

9 MS. WILKERSON: Kudos to Keith, because,

10 you know, Council tries to keep up, I try to keep up

11 with, but this was, we thought, fairly new, but Keith

12 made the recommendation on his visit, and it's probably

13 not something we would have really been aware of if he

14 hadn't said, you know, you've been open long enough,

15 probably you might want to think about this, not saying

16 you have to or anything, but this recommendation is

17 available to take advantage.

18 MR. CHAUDHURI: All right. And thank you,

19 Keith. And thank you for that comment, Julie.

20 MR. MCGHEE: Daniel McGhee with Poarch

21 Creek. Just a suggestion that I know our

22 Commissioners, we have seven Commissioners, so we

23 usually get about one new Commissioner every year that

24 usually comes in starting from scratch not knowing

25 anything. And we get a lot of requests to attend these
28

1 verification programs that NIGA offers, which is a

2 pretty expensive little program, but it goes over

3 you've got to take Class I, Class II, Class III before

4 you can be officially certified. And that might be

5 something to consider. I don't know if you guys can do

6 that, if there would be some kind of certification

7 program for new Commissioners, or something like that,

8 so that they can go, here's everything you need to know

9 from A to Z as a new Commissioner, or someone who's

10 just wondering, and yours may be free, of course, and

11 that's good.

12 MR. CHAUDHURI: And thank you for that

13 question and for that comment. I'll turn it over to

14 Christinia and Steve in a moment, but a couple of

15 things come to mind.

16 So we take great care to make sure that we are

17 supportive of our regulatory partners as we can be. So

18 for that reason, we recognize the role that TGRAs play

19 in certifying qualifications for their giving

20 Commissions. We typically don't do certifications

21 ourselves. That doesn't mean we don't do the training.

22 And actually, we support a lot of training that NIGA

23 does. And we have a pretty good relationship with

24 NIGA, and we try to be as helpful in that area as we

25 can be. But whether we call it certification, or, you
29

1 know, following a curriculum set forth in our

2 trainings, the point is, we do want to provide as much

3 meaningful training as possible. But I don't know if

4 you want to add more to that. But we have been asked

5 about certifying in the past, and there's some specific

6 reasons why we don't do that, and it's only because we

7 typically haven't created a regulatory requirement

8 that's not provided for in IGRA.

9 Do you want to add to that?

10 MS. THOMAS: I can try.

11 MR. CHAUDHURI: Maybe I was so thorough.

12 MS. THOMAS: So yes, we have been asked if

13 we could do a certification similar to NIGA. And there

14 is a reason we can't do a certification, but right off

15 the top of my head, I can't remember it, so I didn't

16 have as bad a travel as the Chairman did, but my travel

17 yesterday was not all that exciting either, so I'm

18 tired today, too. But Dan, I mean, I have your contact

19 information, so I can get back to you with the

20 specifics of why we can't do a certification, because

21 there is a reason as a Federal Agency why we can't. I

22 can't remember right now why. And Mike can't remember

23 either. I was trying to dump it on him.

24 MR. CHAUDHURI: But we still support the

25 big picture of getting folks trained up as much as
30

1 possible. So we'll do the substance, it's just, you

2 know, the certificate. And thank you for that comment.

3 And let me just kind of add one -- well, I

4 think that covers it.

5 MR. MCGHEE: And I'll say, this is not

6 knocking NIGA's certification, it's very good

7 certification, but some Commissions just don't have

8 that kind of funds to do that, you know, because you're

9 talking it's a separate trip each time, a separate

10 hotel, separate airfare to do it. So it would be a

11 good option, something for those Commissioners or

12 people of the Commission to do.

13 MR. BREWER: Just one thing I would add to

14 that is one of the things that we've recently done is

15 we've acquired some webinar software. The plan is that

16 we're going to start offering webinar-based training.

17 We'll be in D.C. We'll open it up to regions. And

18 trainings that would be valuable for new Commissioners

19 would be included in that webinar-based training. That

20 way they can just get behind a computer, watch the

21 training, and receive it that way. It limits expense

22 all the way around for everybody involved.

23 MR. CHAUDHURI: Again, thank you for that

24 comment. During the break after today's panel, we had

25 the CEO of Chumash talk about ways that we could bring
31

1 -- I mean, we could help bridge communications between

2 operators and regulators. I mean, we're open to

3 innovative ideas for trainings that, you know, there's

4 Proof of Attendance, I don't know if we call it a

5 certificate, but anyway, we definitely want to get the

6 regulators what they need to go back to fulfill their

7 own internal requirements, but we have limitations.

8 MR. WILLIS. Glen Willis of Mississippi

9 Choctaw. I've just got a question on the IT

10 assessment. Do you guys work in conjunction with

11 management, or just a regulatory body? The reason I'm

12 asking that is we did one through GLI. And once the

13 reports came in, we reviewed it with management on the

14 concerns that were there, and shortly thereafter, their

15 IT director left, and we never really got a response on

16 the fix. At that time, we didn't consult with

17 management, we conducted through GLI on our own.

18 MR. WALDO: Travis Waldo, Director of

19 Technology. Yes, the program is designed to work with

20 both operators and the Commission. When we send out

21 the questionnaires and then we send out the waivers to

22 have the information actually signed so we can be on

23 site, we look for two signatures. We look for one from

24 operations, and one from the Commission, so that way,

25 everybody is on the same page, they know when we're out
32

1 there, what we're doing. And when we're finished with

2 the assessment and we create the report and we sit down

3 with you and go over it, we try to sit down with

4 operations, IT, whoever is there, and anybody from the

5 Commission that you want there as well.

6 MR. WILLIS: Thank you.

7 MR. CHAUDHURI: Does that help?

8 MR. WILLIS: Yes.

9 MS. WILKERSON: Just as a follow-up, maybe

10 it will be helpful, I know when they came in last year

11 for our IT, they actually set up in the -- set their

12 computers and everything up in the Gaming Commission

13 office, which is right behind the casino, and were able

14 to work with the Commissioners, but also then had IT

15 right next-door, and they were coming in, and so they

16 worked very well with Commission in their office, but

17 then IT was in and out, and they were on the floor

18 looking at everything, so, you know, we found it to be,

19 you know, a hand in glove between Management, and

20 Commission, and the NIGC.

21 MR. CHAUDHURI: And thank you, Julie. And

22 just to add a final point, I think it's already been

23 made, but as opposed to private assessments, I don't

24 want to say our assessments are free, it's more --

25 they're more pre-paid, because everything we do is
33

1 funded by travel fees, but there's no costs associated

2 for the assessment itself. Again, we see it as a

3 valuable service, and helping support the integrity of

4 gaming. So that's why we do it.

5 Great comments so far. And I just brought up

6 the idea about the operators and regulators

7 discussions. You know, I don't want us to be limited

8 by even how we frame these topics. If you have ideas

9 regarding training, please share them with us.

10 Okay, any other comments before we move

11 forward with the next topic?

12 MS. CARSON: Bea Carson, Mississippi Band

13 of Choctaws. I'm going to ask a question, but I'm

14 going to refer to our lawyer here.

15 Mississippi has passed a --

16 MS. COOPER: Linda Cooper, Counsel for the

17 Commission.

18 At a CLE yesterday, I understood that it

19 appears that Mississippi has passed legislation that

20 would allow certain types of fantasy sports wagering

21 and so on. The Mississippi Gaming Commission is

22 currently working to promulgate regulations that would

23 be applicable to operators who do that type of sports

24 betting. I think the chairwoman raised the good

25 question with me as to whether there are any related
34

1 regulations that NIGC has promulgated or will

2 promulgate relative to that aspect of gaming?

3 MR. CHAUDHURI: Well, this may be a

4 question for others, Mike or Travis, to elaborate on.

5 But we implement IGRA, and IGRA talks about gaming on

6 eligible. Eligible Indian lands defines gaming. And

7 so we're governed by the definitions of IGRA.

8 And so what we look at is whether or not the

9 activity -- well, first of all, do we have jurisdiction

10 over the matter, are we talking about gaming on

11 eligible Indian lands, and second, are we talking about

12 gaming. And so I don't -- I never like to speak in

13 generalities, because all of the -- there are a lot of

14 types of games out there. And differences matter about

15 whether or not they fall into, first, the definition of

16 gaming, and second, what type of gaming, Class III,

17 Class II. And if they're a Class III, what do the

18 Compacts say about them. So that's the lens that we'll

19 look through at that.

20 Now, there have been larger discussions about,

21 you know, national legislation for these types of

22 activities. We just apply the law as written. But

23 that's a whole lot of talking without saying anything

24 in particular. But I mean, the point that I'm trying

25 to make is, regardless of how vendors are framing
35

1 certain types of games, we look at the definitions of

2 gaming. Is it Class III? If it's Class III, what do

3 the Compacts say about it in determining our rules? So

4 we would rely on our existing framework as we analyze

5 whether or not we have jurisdiction over anything. And

6 again, zero sleep. Zero sleep today.

7 MR. HOENIG: I can say that general

8 counsel are looking at it so we can figure out how to

9 advise the Commission as well as the compliance folks.

10 But I know it's not new, but it seems to be kind of

11 ramping up, so that's why we're just kind of -- we're

12 trying to figure it out. And also, you talk about

13 fantasy sports, and you think of one thing, but really,

14 it's thousands of different things. So it's such a

15 game-specific thing, it's hard to kind of figure out,

16 when people say fantasy sports, exactly what they even

17 mean by that. So that's something we're working

18 through as well.

19 MR. CHAUDHURI: Do you hear how crisp his

20 answer was? This guy, his flight came in day before

21 yesterday, so he's the only one of our team that

22 actually got eight hours of sleep last night. He's

23 making us all look bad.

24 But thank you for that question. I don't know

25 if that was a helpful answer.
36

1 MS. COOPER: Thank you. It is. We just

2 sort of, just as of yesterday, have begun to think

3 through what that would mean for that aspect of gaming

4 on the Reservation. But it's helpful to have just your

5 top-of-the-head thought of that from NIGC 's

6 standpoint. So thank you.

7 MR. CHAUDHURI: Let me flip it on its head

8 a little bit, and just something for regulators to

9 think about.

10 So regardless of what a state does, I mean,

11 Tribes have a role in regulating gaming activities

12 within their own eligible Indian lands. So regardless

13 of what state law says, whether it's fantasy sports, or

14 any online activities, you know, I think as regulators,

15 we should always be looking at our authorities and our

16 jurisdiction within our lands. And some of the games

17 that are out there, some are geofenced, some aren't.

18 Back to Mike's point, every game is different, and it

19 really depends on the guts of the game that you're

20 discussing. But you know, the regulatory bodies, the

21 TGRAs have quite a bit of authority within their own

22 spheres. And so I don't know if that's always on, you

23 know, on the minds of the folks who are drafting

24 legislation or proposing new games, but there is a role

25 for Indian country in terms of being the primary
37

1 regulators of gaming within Indian lands. Great

2 question. Thank you.

3 Additional comments on training before we move

4 forward? Okay, we will have a catch-all at the end.

5 We'll move forward with our third topic, which is

6 Management Contract Regulations and Procedures.

7 Before hearing from Director Yvonne Lee, I do

8 want to say that even though the word gamesmanship

9 isn't mentioned here, Management Agreements and the

10 Agency's role in approving Management Agreements have a

11 lot of interaction with our responsibility to ensure

12 that Tribes are the primary beneficiaries of their

13 operations. So we take our role in performing our

14 responsibilities and the approval process very

15 seriously, because we recognize the fiduciary

16 responsibility that we have to Tribal nations when we

17 process these Agreements, and we're always looking for

18 that perfect balance between making sure that we do

19 everything we can to uphold our responsibilities, but

20 also not creating roadblocks, or artificial roadblocks

21 to economic development. So we understand that the

22 approval process takes some time. It's a very thorough

23 process, but it's thorough because we have a

24 responsibility to fulfill. And many of the folks in

25 this room have been through that process. We certainly
38

1 have ideas about areas of improvement, but we're really

2 interested in hearing yours.

3 So with that, Director Lee.

4 MS. LEE: Good afternoon. I'm Yvonne Lee,

5 Director of Finance for NIGC.

6 One of the primary initiatives at NIGC is to

7 protect against anything that amounts to gamesmanship

8 on the backs of Tribes. Gamesmanship is our broad term

9 for any third-party threats to Tribal assets or

10 operations. It includes third-party interference with

11 a Tribe's sole proprietary interest in its gaming

12 operations. Many gamesmanship violations may occur

13 when third-party vendor or services provider is

14 managing some aspects of the gaming operation without

15 an approved Management Contract, or where a management

16 contractor is operating outside of an approved

17 management contract. Thus, approval of Management

18 Contract by the NIGC Chair is required by IGRA as a

19 means of protecting the Tribe against gamesmanship.

20 The Chair has a fiduciary responsibility to Tribes to

21 ensure that they remain the primary beneficiary of

22 their gaming operations.

23 The Management Contract and backgrounding

24 process should also not stymie the entrepreneurial

25 spirit of Tribes. With this in mind, the Commission is
39

1 seeking feedback and recommendations on whether changes

2 are needed to the Management Contract and background

3 investigation regulations. Specifically, we want input

4 that may improve our efficiency in the Management

5 Contract review process, but also continue to protect

6 Tribes' sole proprietary interest in their gaming

7 activities. To provide some context to this

8 consultation, I'll briefly summarize the current

9 approval process. Then we will open the floor for

10 questions and suggestions.

11 The Management Contract is any contract,

12 subcontract, or collateral agreement between an Indian

13 Tribe and a contractor, or between a contractor and a

14 subcontractor that provides for the management of all

15 or part of the gaming operation.

16 Detailed requirements for a Management

17 Contract can be found on our website. To commence the

18 review and approval process, submitters must submit a

19 Management Contract and all relevant documents in

20 accordance with 25 CFR Parts 531 and 533 to NIGC.

21 The Chairman must also make a determination

22 that a manager is suitable to managing the gaming

23 operation. The background investigation process is an

24 important component of the submission. Background

25 information must be submitted for all persons and
40

1 entities that have a financial interest in or

2 management responsibility for the Management Contract

3 as identified in 25 CFR Part 537.

4 Once a contract is submitted to the NIGC, they

5 are processed and reviewed based on the order received.

6 We've distributed three handouts to help you understand

7 our review process. The first handout is the Process

8 Flow Chart. The second and third handouts are the NIGC

9 Checklists for Management Contract Review and

10 Background Information. You can also print the

11 checklist from NIGC's website.

12 As you can see on the Flow Chart, which

13 illustrates the process flow of Management Contract

14 review, once a submission is received, it will

15 immediately be distributed to all staff involved to

16 start the review process. We will first send out a

17 submission letter to inform the parties if there is any

18 information and/or documents still missing. Then the

19 staff in both the Division of Finance and the Office of

20 General Counsel will conduct a review for their

21 respective area, as outlined on the Flow Chart. During

22 the review process, there will be internal discussions

23 and meetings among the NIGC staff to coordinate the

24 review and monitor the status. After the review is

25 completed, we will send out an issue letter to notify
41

1 the parties if there are any issues with the Management

2 Contract. In addition, the NIGC staff will work with

3 the parties to help them understand the issues, if

4 necessary. Please bear in mind that sometimes it might

5 take a few rounds to resolve all issues.

6 The length of the NIGC review is dependent on

7 several factors, which can include the number of prior

8 applications received and already in the review queue;

9 the completeness of each submission, the responsiveness

10 of the parties and compliance with existing laws and

11 regulations; and the complexity of the submission and

12 those subject to background investigation.

13 Once all issues are clear and the submission

14 is complete with all necessary documents, then the

15 Chair has one hundred eighty days to approve or

16 disapprove the Management Contract.

17 The NIGC Chair may approve a Management

18 Contract if it meets the standards of Parts 531, 533,

19 535, or 537. If the NIGC Chair learns of any actions

20 or conditions that violate the standards, or the

21 manager deliberately or substantially fails to follow

22 the terms of the Management Contract or Tribal Gaming

23 Ordinance, the Chair may disapprove a submitted

24 contract, or void the contract, or require

25 modifications of an approved contract. If submitters
42

1 find the Chair's determination unsatisfactory, they may

2 appeal the decision.

3 If a Tribe wants to amend a term of an

4 existing approved contract, or simply extend the

5 original approved contract, pursuant to 25 CFR 535, it

6 must submit an amendment and relevant documents,

7 including a letter from the Tribal Chairperson, and

8 associated resolutions, as well as background

9 investigation applications.

10 For new individuals and entities, background

11 investigations are required. Individuals or entities

12 previously found suitable may also need to have their

13 background investigations updated, depending on the

14 length of time since their last background

15 investigation.

16 We would now like to take this time to hear

17 from you. Do you have any questions about the process

18 or regulations, or any suggestions as to how the NIGC

19 can improve its efficiency in processing these

20 applications and providing technical assistance? Thank

21 you.

22 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you, Ms. Lee. So

23 the floor is yours.

24 MS. WILKERSON: Julie Wilkerson, Jena Band

25 of Choctaw Indians.
43

1 As the Commission knows, we just recently had

2 an approved Management Contract November 9th of 2016.

3 It did take some time. I guess my comment on that is I

4 think we had to do an updated business plan and include

5 financial projections, and I think ours was not a new

6 contract, it was an amendment of an approved Management

7 Contract, and I think that may have slowed down some of

8 our -- that and the fact that you had other management

9 contracts that were in the process, and more so than

10 normally you would have, I think, so there was some

11 restructuring, I believe. We spoke about that last

12 year.

13 But I guess we did an updated business plan

14 that included the financial projections for the

15 refinancing, because you requested it. I think we

16 thought, we're not a new contract under the regs, we're

17 an existing contract with just an amendment, but we

18 want to do and comply with whatever you needed, but I

19 think that kind of slowed us because there was a lot of

20 attention to the financial part of that, which we

21 thought was pretty self-evident for the Tribe, that it

22 was going to be a good thing.

23 So I guess my comment on that is that that

24 seemed to, you know, maybe slow our process down,

25 recognizing that you did have other ones in front of
44

1 it. And not to take away from we certainly appreciated

2 the way y'all worked with the Tribe and took note of

3 and were willing to meet with us whenever we requested

4 when we were in your area. So just as a comment,

5 because we certainly were appreciative.

6 MS. SMITH: And everything you said is

7 exactly what we went through, it sounds like. That's

8 what we did. We answered back, and then it was a

9 process. But we had to do it. We had to do it, so we

10 are thankful, and we got through it. It took quite a

11 while, but we thank all of you for what you did.

12 MR. CHAUDHURI: And thank you for that.

13 So this is the challenge. As I mentioned before, we've

14 got a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that the

15 Tribe's interests are protected, but at the same time,

16 time is of the essence, and most of these Agreements

17 have financing aspects to them. And so, you know, on

18 one hand, you need to be as thorough as possible, but

19 on the other hand, you need to be as streamlined as

20 possible. So how that may play into any specific

21 tweaks, you know, we're always open to those ideas.

22 But thank you so much for understanding. It is

23 important for us to move as quickly as possible, but

24 being thorough with the challenge. And Yvonne's team

25 does a great job.
45

1 MS. LEE: And I just want to add, we all

2 know waiting is always painful, waiting in a line, or

3 waiting for responses. But if you're waiting for us,

4 you can always reach out to us and ask where we stand

5 and all that. And the Jena Band is a very good

6 example. We asked, they delivered, so that's kind of

7 the responsiveness we're looking for from the parties.

8 And as we review the Management Contract, I

9 mean, it's not like there's a book saying how you

10 review Management Contracts. So as we review it and we

11 are trying to help the Chairman exercise his position

12 as a Trustee, we are looking after the Tribe's

13 interest, so that's why we were asking for the

14 financial information.

15 MR. CHAUDHURI: And I like that slogan, we

16 asked, they delivered. That's a good one, Yvonne.

17 MS. WILKERSON: Julie Wilkerson with Jena

18 Band.

19 Also, as you know, we have come in with

20 background investigation, and that's been an issue that

21 kind of came up, and maybe -- we kind of think it might

22 have been a case of first impression for you with our

23 General Manager and now with our CFO. And just

24 appreciate that you worked with us, and that was over a

25 year ago that we were able to work that out, and that
46

1 issue was we had a General Manager that we needed to

2 hire, but he couldn't go through the background

3 investigation and be determined favorable without some

4 problems with managing without a favorable background

5 determination by the -- or determined to be approved by

6 the NIGC. But you worked with us.

7 And I don't know if there's a thought about

8 putting those in a policy or a regulation, or if we

9 were just kind of a case-by-case, but it's come up now.

10 About a month ago, as you all know, we hired a CFO, and

11 he's going to go through the background investigation.

12 He's already submitted the application. But the way

13 you worked it out, if you recall, was the Gaming

14 Commission has issued a license to the General Manager.

15 The General Manager was determined to be suitable, at

16 the same time, though, as our approved Management

17 Contract, but the CFO is now going through the

18 background investigation, and has a gaming license by

19 the TGRA, and we will continue to do the NIGC

20 investigation.

21 That was an example of y'all working with us,

22 and we certainly appreciate it because we were between

23 a rock and a hard place with our management contractor,

24 we were paying thirty percent for a management fee, but

25 that included some expertise.
47

1 MR. CHAUDHURI: And thank you. That

2 process has certainly formed our discussions since

3 then. I don't think we've talked about putting it down

4 in the form of best practices or a bulletin, because

5 each one of these Agreements is so fact based, I mean,

6 fact specific in terms of the issues that need to be

7 addressed. But certainly if there are things that we

8 should consider for possible regulation or policies, I

9 don't know, maybe we can continue to discuss it. I'm

10 not sure how it would apply to lessons learned, good

11 lessons learns through coordination to other

12 Agreements. But it was -- we were certainly thankful

13 for everyone rolling their sleeves up and getting it

14 done together.

15 MS. LEE: Yeah. I just want to add,

16 background investigation is really a case-by-case

17 situation. Once you start the background -- our

18 background investigation team started their

19 investigation, as they dig into it, they might find

20 some issues, or whatever, that they're going to have to

21 look at other stuff which originally they didn't plan

22 to do that. So it's hard to put in all regulation or

23 policy to cover all the things that's going to happen,

24 because a lot of it, it's kind of as we go and what we

25 discover.
48

1 MS. WILKERSON: Julie Wilkerson. Just

2 briefly, and this is a thank-you, because I know that

3 the management company pays for the background

4 investigation, they submit their application, we don't

5 ever see that, but the NIGC investigators have always

6 kept the Tribes, as far as I know, Lee has always kept

7 the Tribe informed of any issues that may come up. And

8 if there is anything, he insists on a call that

9 included the Tribe's management and all applicable

10 parties, which we certainly appreciated.

11 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you. It's great to

12 hear. That's where our responsibility lies.

13 Any additional comments or questions regarding

14 Management Agreements before we move on to the next

15 topic? And I think we're doing pretty well on time

16 here, so we had talked about the possibility of a

17 five-minute stretch-your-legs break, but we're going

18 through these topics so quickly, any objections to just

19 continuing to move forward? Okay.

20 With that, we'll move on to our fourth topic,

21 Technical Standards for Mobile Gaming Devices. And our

22 Technology Division Director, Travis Waldo, will

23 provide more background.

24 But before he goes into that background, we

25 heard some great comments, I think it was in Oklahoma,
49

1 about the pros and cons of going the formal rural route

2 -- or I'm sorry, regulatory route versus guidance on

3 this topic. And that's something that we've been

4 talking about quite a bit internally. But again,

5 that's the benefit of comments at Consultation. So

6 Travis.

7 MR. WALDO: Thank you, sir. Again, Travis

8 Waldo, Director of Technology.

9 The National Indian Gaming Commission is

10 considering draft language to amend 25 CFR 547.18,

11 which would clarify and add new technical standards for

12 wireless gaming systems and communication between

13 mobile communication devices and mobile gaming systems.

14 These new draft regulatory standards provide clear and

15 specific definitions that have not been included in the

16 regulations previously. The new standards also support

17 security and system integrity for mobile gaming

18 operations.

19 The draft language is based on input and

20 collaboration with our Tribal partners. The intent of

21 the new draft regulation is to support the growth and

22 innovation of mobile gaming systems.

23 Portable hand-held gaming devices have been

24 around for many years and are authorized in many state

25 jurisdictions. Hand-held gaming devices are electronic
50

1 devices that allow casino patrons to play anywhere

2 within the casino or within Tribal lands, as defined by

3 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, such as at restaurants,

4 hotels, or other amenities.

5 The draft technical standards for mobile

6 gaming devices will not authorize internet gaming.

7 These draft technical standards only address hand-held

8 mobile devices within Tribal lands.

9 The draft technical standards, which can be

10 found on our website, are proposed standards for Tribal

11 review, comment, and consultation. Thank you. We'll

12 take questions now.

13 MR. CHAUDHURI: Questions, comments? And

14 this really is an effort, and thankful for Travis'

15 efforts, to tee this up as a possible action. But this

16 really is an outgrowth of trying to provide some

17 helpful guidance or helpful language for fellow

18 regulators. This is an emerging technology, and we

19 realize sometimes it's helpful to have a framework to

20 work off of. But again, internally, we're going to be

21 talking about whether guidance is better than a

22 regulation.

23 Okay, moving forward. We'll move on with the

24 next topic. And this involves something that I think

25 we're all pretty excited about. It's a small but
51

1 important change to the way we -- the timing with which

2 we collect fees. It will allow us to synchronize our

3 budgeting a little more closely with our fee

4 collection. Yvonne will speak in more detail about it,

5 but I think this really speaks to our efforts to

6 improve efficiency as an Agency.

7 MS. LEE: This is Yvonne Lee again. And

8 don't worry, this one is much shorter.

9 The Commission is considering amending the

10 language to 25 CFR Part 514. Under the current

11 regulation, the Commission announces a preliminary fee

12 rate on March 1st, and a final fee rate three months

13 later on June 1st.

14 The proposed regulation will require NIGC to

15 set the fee rate only one time per year, to be

16 announced on November 1st. The proposed changes on the

17 fee rate publication day will also apply to the

18 fingerprint processing fee rate.

19 These are the proposed 514.2 changes on fee

20 date, and these are the proposed 514.16 changes on

21 fingerprinting.

22 By setting and announcing the fee rate once a

23 year, the Commission will be able to, one, improve the

24 efficiency of the fee rate analysis and publication

25 process; two, coincide the fee rate announcement with
52

1 the annual release of the Gross Gaming Revenue and the

2 completion of the Commission's budget for the upcoming

3 year; three, reduce the margin of error for fee

4 calculations as the rate will only be set once within a

5 fiscal year; four, mitigate any confusion that might

6 arise from changing a fee rate twice a year.

7 In addition, the majority of Tribes have

8 fiscal years ending either on September 30th or

9 December 31st. Tribes' submissions of audited

10 financial statements are required one hundred and

11 twenty days after the end of their fiscal years. Thus,

12 when we first use these financial statements to set the

13 preliminary fee rate, our analysis is limited to a

14 fractional portion of the financial audit submissions,

15 and must be reanalyzed again after additional

16 submissions are received at the end of April. The

17 proposed changes will allow the analysis to take place

18 once a year after the Commission has received all

19 annual audited financial statements. In addition, the

20 fee rate calculation will more accurately reflect the

21 Commission's required operation funding which will

22 become available by September 30th each year.

23 The Commission is seeking comments on the

24 proposed changes to the time period these fee rates are

25 published.
53

1 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you, Yvonne. So any

2 questions, comments, observations? Going once, going

3 twice. Okay, we'll move on to our sixth and final

4 topic. Again, we'll have a little catch-all

5 opportunity at the end to address any questions that

6 you may have, but we'll move forward with our Deputy

7 Chief of Staff, Christinia Thomas, who will talk about

8 Voluntary Non-Binding Class III Guidance.

9 MS. THOMAS: Thank you. So as a result of

10 the 2015-2016 Consultations, the Commission will issue

11 non-binding Class III MICS guidance. We have issued a

12 draft of that guidance, and are asking for your

13 feedback before we finalize and publish. Although a

14 guidance document does not require a formal notice and

15 comment process, the Commission recognizes the value of

16 Tribal and industry input, and it tends to thoroughly

17 consider all comments we receive from you to inform

18 this guidance. The draft sixty-four page guidance

19 document is available for you today, and is also on our

20 website for review. The NIGC is fortunate to have so

21 many Tribal gaming subject matter experts working for

22 the Agency who are well-versed in operational

23 procedures and the risks associated with them. They

24 have been diligently working to develop this draft.

25 You'll notice that the draft follows the
54

1 formatting and style of the current Part 543 Class II

2 MICS. We hope it assists those Tribes with mixed

3 facilities to develop a comprehensive set of controls,

4 while still enabling Tribes themselves to establish

5 standards that best fit their needs. Exclusively Class

6 III areas, such as gaming machines and table games,

7 have been updated after extensive review of other

8 jurisdictions, incorporating Tribal regulatory and

9 current industry standards.

10 Additionally, those controls in Part 543 that

11 require TGRA analysis and approval, such as variances

12 and supervision controls, are carried over into the

13 Class III guidance.

14 We would also like to consult with you on our

15 proposed decision to suspend the existing 542

16 regulations. Suspension of the regulations leaves the

17 existing text in the Code of Federal Regulation, but

18 adds a note that they are not enforceable, and refers

19 the reader to the guidance document. We believe that

20 this solution accomplishes the goals of keeping the

21 language accessible for those who need it.

22 Again, the guidance is being done to provide

23 voluntary non-binding updated regulatory controls for

24 Class III gaming areas. Because it will be guidance

25 instead of regulations, we will be able to be much
55

1 quicker at adapting to changes in the industry, and we

2 are seeking your feedback on the draft guidance. And

3 finally, we would also like your input on the intent of

4 suspending the existing 542 regulations. Thank you.

5 MR. CHAUDHURI: Thank you, Ms. Thomas.

6 Questions? Comments? This is the best crowd. This is

7 great. Okay.

8 Well, at the risk of creating comments, this

9 really has been the product of a lot of discussions to

10 date with our partners across Indian country. And I

11 think we're pretty close to getting to a good spot

12 where we're able to provide assistance or something

13 helpful to Tribes whose Compacts reference our mix,

14 while at the same time respecting the limitations on

15 our authorities. And so always thankful for Indian

16 country comments, but this topic, in particular, and

17 those comment have helped shape our thinking on this

18 matter.

19 Okay. As promised, we do want to leave room

20 for any additional comments on any of the six topics

21 that we discussed. But if time allows, if there's

22 anything else that you'd like to share about ways we

23 could improve our operations at NIGC, we are all yours.

24 MS. ALTIMUS: Well, Mr. Chairman, there's

25 a section in the book on the grandfathered games. And
56

1 they were asking if we could discuss that.

2 MR. CHAUDHURI: Absolutely. So we've

3 actually had a parallel set of Consultations

4 specifically on the grandfathering provisions. And

5 those have been very good discussions, very robust

6 discussions.

7 I don't know, do you feel comfortable with

8 talking about the current status of our discussions,

9 Mike? I'm happy to as well.

10 MR. HOENIG: So yeah, the grandfathering

11 system. So this is all out of 547, our Technical

12 Standards. So the Technical Standards are put into

13 place initially in 2008, and what the Technical

14 Standards are, basically just that, they're a set of

15 uniform standards that all Class II gaming systems have

16 to be tested to. In total, for a fully compliant

17 system, there's fifty-six standards that are tested to.

18 The issue that came about in 2008 was this was

19 the very first time the NIGC had put these standards on

20 the Class II gaming systems, and so there were all the

21 games out there that were on the floor that were being

22 played, all these Class II systems that were already

23 out there that, you know, may not meet all fifty-six of

24 the standards, and the Commission was sensitive to the

25 idea that you can't just make everybody pull them off
57

1 and get rid of these games and now buy a whole new set

2 of games, or whether the manufactures would even be

3 ready to put games out at that time.

4 So this idea of grandfathered systems was put

5 into the Regulation. And that was that all of these

6 games that are manufactured before November 10th of

7 2008 could be kept on the floor for a period of five

8 years. Within that five years, they need to be brought

9 up to full compliance so that they be testful to all of

10 the standards, or if they couldn't be brought up to

11 full compliance, they'd have to be taken off, removed

12 from the gaming floor.

13 The Commission revisited all of its regs in

14 2012. And as part of that, the Commission put a Tribal

15 Advisory Committee that Christinia and Daniel McGhee

16 were on from the Tribal perspective. I don't see

17 anybody else in here that was on that. And then myself

18 and former Commissioner Dan Little attended with the

19 NIGC, as well as a lot of other staff. And under those

20 discussions came an extension, essentially, that the

21 sunset on all these games was taken from five years out

22 to ten years.

23 And so that ten-year date is coming up next

24 year on November 11th, 2018. And so the Commission put

25 out some requests for information on how to address
58

1 that. Does something need to be done? Are all these

2 games going to be fully compliant on November 11th,

3 2018, and as part of those discussions, NIGA put

4 together a Class II subcommittee that's really been

5 focused on this. They've been gathering information.

6 I think we're still waiting on the final report, but

7 they've been keeping us informed on the preliminary

8 findings so far.

9 And so the Commission is essentially

10 considering a range of options. I'll just say the two

11 ends of the spectrum are do nothing, and the ten-year

12 period, the sunset provision closes and all the games

13 have to be fully compliant or they have to be removed

14 from the floor. On the other end of the perspective is

15 what we've heard from a lot of folks in the industry is

16 to just do away entirely with the sunset provision so

17 that these grandfathered systems can stay on the floor

18 until they just naturally matriculate, or they

19 naturally come off of the floor because they've reached

20 the end of their planned life. And then there's some,

21 I think some possibilities in between those two

22 extremes, which the Commission is also considering.

23 I know that we want to put out a discussion

24 draft for everybody's consideration soon, and it's one

25 of the things that I have to look at so that I can get
59

1 it back to the Commission so that that can come out and

2 we can kind of get feedback on some of those options.

3 So that's the grandfathering discussion.

4 That's kind of the latest on where we are. You know,

5 definitely want to hear from everybody in the industry.

6 We've heard a lot about this. Like the Chairman said,

7 there were two full Consultations just on this, one at

8 NIGA, and one at NTGCR in Tulsa. But yeah, we have

9 lots of time today. And November 10th, 2018 is the

10 sunset. I was a day off there.

11 MR. CHAUDHURI: This is a great

12 opportunity. We're all in the same room. I mean,

13 there are no limitations. That's a perfect example of

14 a great question that helps educate us all

15 With that, I'll ask one last time again, any

16 additional questions, comments before I turn it over to

17 my fellow Commissioners who are going to have wrap-up

18 statements? Okay.

19 With that, I'll share a couple of thoughts at

20 the end here, but I'm absolutely grateful for today's

21 discussion. I'm going to turn it over to our Vice

22 Chair, who may have some closing thoughts.

23 MS. ISOM-CLAUSE: Thank you. I think last

24 time we were here at this conference a year ago, we

25 held just an informal roundtable that some of you
60

1 attended, and I really appreciate you being with us

2 here again today in a bit more formal context. But

3 even when we're not in the region, because we can't

4 always be here, unfortunately, please pick up the phone

5 and talk to our staff, contact us in the Commission,

6 and just please help us keep the dialogue going. I

7 thank you for all your comments today. I think that's

8 all I have.

9 MR. SIMERMEYER: I also want to thank

10 everyone for their comments and their effort leading up

11 to today, and in the coming weeks.

12 In general, I appreciate some of the comments

13 and feedback that came about from people's experiences

14 on these topics. All the topics give us a chance to

15 improve how we do business as an Agency so that our

16 decisions are more efficient, how we do our work, more

17 transparent. And those evolutions and how we do

18 business are going to help us evolve and prepare for

19 how we as a Commission, or future Commission is able to

20 meet the next generation of needs. And so whether it's

21 the grandfathering issue, in terms of not just the

22 specifics of that topic, but how we address the issue,

23 or the wireless issues that came up, it provides a way

24 for us to have someone who has learned about how do we

25 best roll out your ideas and concepts, and having the
61

1 perspective of Tribal leadership and Tribal regulators,

2 who have a responsibility to the larger of our Indian

3 communities, to help us to better -- their specific

4 communities is going to help us to better meet our

5 (inaudible) roles. So thanks for your comments and

6 continued thoughts.

7 MR. CHAUDHURI: And I just want to echo

8 all of that. I know many of us may have tired minds,

9 but just the spirit and heart of cooperation and

10 coordination is apparent. So our minds may be tired,

11 but our spirits aren't. We have a shared goal of

12 strengthening the regulatory structure of Indian

13 gaming. Thank you for your work day in and day out in

14 that regard, and thank you for your communication, your

15 dialogue, and your openness. And safe travels to all

16 of you. And thank you for being here.

17 (MEETING CONCLUDED 2:35 P.M.)

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1

2 CERTIFICATION

3

4

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

5

6

7 I do hereby certify that the above and foregoing

8 transcript of proceedings in the matter aforementioned

9 was taken down by me in machine shorthand, and the

10 questions and answers thereto were reduced to writing

11 under my personal supervision, and that the foregoing

12 represents a true and correct transcript of the

13 proceedings given by said witness upon said hearing

14 I further certify that I am neither of counsel nor

15 of kin to the parties to the action, nor am I anywise

16 interested in the result of said cause.

17

18

19

20 ____________________________

21 Margaret C. Turner, CCR, RPR

22 NO. 1853

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