Indian Gaming Association makes push for federal legislation to help tribes – CDC Gaming

Recent federal action has advanced several tribal tax priorities, including the rise in the reporting threshold on slot machine winnings, but tribes will be making a push through the end of the year to get legislation that helps Indian Country and its funding.

The Indian Gaming Association held a webinar last week to discuss the current legislative landscape, what comes next for tribal tax-exempt bonds and economic development provisions, and how tribes can effectively engage with Congress as these priorities move forward.

IGA Conference Chair Victor Rocha and IGA Executive Director Jason Giles were joined by Telly J. Meier, a partner at Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker, and Scott Dacey, a principal at Pace LLP.

“These are serious issues,” Rocha said. “We talk about prediction markets and other things, but I see every day the administration’s desire to turn the screws down on everything. Taxation is a big deal.”

Meier said the tax changes are significant. Tribes can now offset against tax refunds through the IRS instead of going through states, which they don’t do naturally. “Recognizing that tribes are governments is a big thing for sovereignty,” Meier said.

The recognition of sovereignty sets up tribes as functioning governments and helps with that ongoing battle, Dacey said. “It goes to show when you let Indian Country do it, they do it and do it right.”

Dacey told Giles and Rocha that funding measures from Congress won’t likely happen until after the mid-term election in November.

Meier cited legislation pending in Congress that tribes have been working on for years. One is tax-exempt bonds. Tribes have been required to issue bonds for essential governmental functions, but legislation has limited them to only those things done by state and local governments.

“That has been a big restriction, because the IRS interprets that narrowly to non-revenue generating items,” Meier said. “That means a museum, road, or administrative building, but not things that bring money into the tribe (such as casinos). This is an attempt to get rid of that and issue a tax-exempt bond for anything that is tribal, since tribes are governments.”

A push for more tax credits would help commercial developers to build in Indian Country. Measures also include tax credits enabling higher salaries for tribal members on reservations, Meier said.

Meier said there’s always been this fear that tribes could look commercial, but people have to be reminded that Indian Country doesn’t have a tax base like a county or state. The way to raise revenue to pay for services is through economic- development enterprises.

“For a long time, there was a misunderstanding about tribes as governments,” Meier said. “That was especially true as gaming came to the forefront. There was a lot of fear that tribes would use tax-exempt bonds for gaming facilities. A number of restrictions were put on (because of that).”

Dacey said the restrictions came out of the 1980s from a Texas lawmaker who was worried about bingo offerings by tribes and wanted it throttled back.

“Anyone who has been involved in Indian Country for any time knows there’s this fear of the natives,” Rocha said. “Tax them and push them and keep them on the reservation. This is trying to make things fair.”

Dacey said it’s going to be tough to get the legislation passed that helps tribes, but they’re up for the challenge. Giles added that some members of Congress think tribes are flush with cash because of their casinos and don’t see the need.

Tribes are lucky to have Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee who studied Indian law when he went to school in Oklahoma, Dacey said. Smith understands tribal tax policy and in 2024 brought a hearing to Indian Country, something that has never happened before, he noted. “That’s why we’re in a unique position here to get some of this stuff done, and a lot of provisions are bipartisan in nature.”

Giles said the opportunity of having Rep. Smith in that position can’t be underplayed. They’ve met him, and the first thing he reminds you is that he’s a farmer and comes from the land in Missouri.

“He had no intention of becoming a congressman and here he is in charge of one of the most powerful committees,” Giles said. “We really have to lean on his tribal background. I don’t know if we’ll get a better shot at this. Whoever comes in next will be so involved in undoing whatever has been done over the past two to four years.”

There will be attempts to put issues pertaining to tribes in reconciliation funding bills that will go through Congress and require only a majority vote in the Senate, the panel said.

“I’ve been working for Indian tribes since 1989 and we’ve had a lot of victories, but also instances where it hasn’t worked out,” Dacey said. “Those are the instances where you learn and hone your skills as a lobbyist. What we’re talking about is steps to help strengthen our case. The first thing is we have to build a record and let members of Congress know where Indian Country stands on these issues. We have to be aggressive and make the cause known.”

“Some of these things are deja vu,” Giles said. “We’ve been working on them for a long time. I started in 2006 and these things were active then. It is a shame it’s taken this long. It seems whatever party is out of power is concerned about the national debt. There are no hard measures to rein that in and they look at small things (like tribes), saying they can’t afford it, but they can add to the military budget. We have to just keep plugging away.”