Opinion ID: 3039140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proposition One

Text: While this case was pending in the district court, the voters of Idaho adopted an initiative called Proposition One that authorized Indian tribes to conduct gaming using “tribal video gaming machines.” Section Two of Proposition One stated that the Indian tribes suffer from disproportionate unemployment and poverty and that recently tribes have “proceeded in good faith to make major investments in Indian gaming facili17550 STATE OF IDAHO v. SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBES ties, and [that] those facilities have finally enabled the tribes to reduce unemployment and welfare and improve living conditions on their reservations.” Proposition One informed voters about the disagreement between the tribes and Idaho regarding video gaming machines.2 The voters approved Proposition One on November 5, 2002. Proposition One added two sections to the Idaho Code, 67 429B and 67-429C. Section 429B allows “Indian tribes . . . to conduct gaming using tribal video gaming machines pursuant to state-tribal gaming compacts which specifically permit their use.” Idaho Code § 67-429B(1). Section 429C authorizes tribes to amend their gaming compacts to permit the use of tribal video gaming machines. It also provides that the gaming machines authorized by such an amendment are limited to the number currently operated by the affected tribe plus 25%, and that no annual increase in numbers may exceed 5% of the number of gaming machines possessed on January 1, 2002. Idaho Code § 67-429C(1)(b). In addition, the statute provided that tribes adopting the prescribed amendments agreed to contribute 5% of the annual net gaming income to local educational programs and schools. Idaho Code § 67-429C(1)(c). 2 Section Two of Proposition One presented the dispute as follows: Due to differences in opinion over the interpretation of Idaho law, . . . tribes face legal uncertainties about the types of gaming machines they can operate on Indian lands. ... Attempts by the tribes and the governor to resolve these legal uncertainties have failed, jeopardizing the future of triballyfunded education, health care, and social service programs. Therefore, the citizens of Idaho desire to secure the future of tribal gaming on Indian lands in Idaho themselves through this ballot measure. This ballot measure clarifies that it is the public policy of . . . Idaho that Indian tribes can continue to operate the types of lottery-style gaming machines currently used at Indian gaming facilities on Idaho reservations under the terms of this act. STATE OF IDAHO v. SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBES 17551 Shortly after Proposition One became law, the Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai, and Nez Perce Tribes employed the amendment procedure in Idaho Code section 67-429C(2) to amend their compacts with Idaho by incorporating the terms of 67429C(1). The amendments granted them the right to operate tribal video gaming machines, subject to the statute’s limitations of numbers and requirements of school payments.