After a Mixed Session For Gambling Interests, Legislative and Tribal Leaders Will Chart Path Forward – Willamette Week

Oregons contentious gambling industry is inching toward a comprehensive discussion of how three playersthe state-owned Oregon Lottery; the states nine federally-recognized Indigenous tribes; and a plethora of private interestswill split the wagering pie.

The tribes went into the February session pushing a bill that would have halted all expansion pending a sit-down at which all three groups discussed whats possible in the future and who should benefit from it.

As WW previously reported, while that bill was pending, the Oregon Department of Justice opined that the proposed inclusion of 225 gambling terminals at the horse-racing track Grants Pass would violate the Oregon Constitutions prohibition on off-reservation casinos. And a bill that would have legalized betting on Oregon college sporting events died without a floor vote.

Five tribes pointedly opposed that bill, which was sponsored by just one lawmaker: Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem).

Those two outcomes softened the blow to the tribes of seeing their request for a global discussion fail again, as it did during the 2021 regular session.

But a week after this years short session ended March 4, five tribesthe Cow Creek, Grand Ronde, Klamath, Umatilla and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslawwrote to Courtney and House Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis).

We are writing to request a meeting with you in the spirit of our government-to-government relationship regarding our continued request for the state of Oregon to convene a special Joint Committee on Gambling, tribal leaders wrote.

It has been more than 25 years since the state has led a comprehensive review of the state-gambling regulatory structure. Another examination is long overdue and necessary given the evolution of technology in gambling and the constant pressures to expand state-government sponsored and private gambling in Oregon.

Courtneys chief of staff, Lisa Taylor, says Courtney is ready to talk. Our office is setting up a meeting between Sen. Courtney and the tribes, Taylor says.

Danny Moran, a spokesman for Rayfield, says the new speaker looks also forward to moving the issue forward.

Speaker Rayfield committed to establish a joint committee on gambling weeks ago and his office has been in contact with Tribal members to plan next steps, Moran says. He shares concerns about the expansion of gambling options in the state and the impact it will have on the Tribes.

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After a Mixed Session For Gambling Interests, Legislative and Tribal Leaders Will Chart Path Forward - Willamette Week