Arizona bar and club gambling proposal advances – but only for keno – AZCentral.com

A legislative committee approves the bill, which has changed from allowing bingo to green-lighting keno

The Arizona State Capitol(Photo: David Kadlubowski/The Republic, David Kadlubowski/The Republic)

A legislative effort to legalize gambling in bars and clubs is advancing, despite warnings from the American Indian tribes that it violates their gaming contract with the state.

But the bill's sponsor has changed the proposal significantly, limiting itsscope to allow electronic keno games instead of bingo, saying that keno is essentially the same as a lottery something Arizona already allows without conflicting with tribal gaming.

The revised Senate Bill 1312 would create a new State Electronic Keno Commission to regulate and oversee keno games statewide. It would requirethat revenue be divided among the state general fund, public safety and full-day kindergarten. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, said the new commission would decide how and where the game is played.

Some video keno machineslook like and work almost identically to video slot or poker machines, allowing players to pull a lever or push a button and watch a row of symbols spin as lights flash and music plays. The real game is played via a random-number generator and a tiny digital keno card displayed somewhere on the edge of the screen. The players win based on the results of that card.

Borrelli said keno could go into the same locations that offer lottery games, including bars, gas stations and fraternal clubs.

Angel Juarez, with the American Legion, supports the bill. He said the state has 47,000 American Legion members and 140 posts, and already has lottery and pull tab games.

"This proposal will enable our posts around the state to a great new revenue source that can replace those we lost when conventional bingo went to other locations," he said, referring to bingo moving to the casinos. "With that loss, our post saw a marked decrease in the programs we were able to support, hampering our ability to serve our veterans."

Tribal representatives said they believe the proposal would violate the state gaming compacts.

Arizona's 2002 gaming compacts with American Indian tribes include a "poison pill" that saysif the state allows non-tribal entities to offer casino-style gaming, the tribes no longer must comply with limits on casinos, card tables and machines. They also don't have to give as much revenue to the state.

Mike Bielecki, representing the Navajo Nation, said the poison pill is triggered when the state allows a new game that wasn't grandfathered in under the compact. He said he believes keno would apply.

Bernadine Burnette, president of the FortMcDowell Yavapai Nation and chairwoman of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, opposesthe bill.

"Gaming has been one of the very few economic activities that has succeeded in Indian country. It has created tens of thousands of jobs. It has allowed us to provide services to our tribal members that we could never have afforded before," she said.

Borrelli said he changed the bill because he believes keno is clearly under the state's jurisdiction and not the tribes'.

"The state reserves the rights for certain games ... lottery, keno," he said. "We didn't give away all our rights."

If the bill is approved, Borrelli said revenueraised could go a long way toward funding full-day kindergarten, which is estimated to cost about $240 million a year.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-3 Thursday to support the bill, with most of those in support saying they have concerns about the bill's impact on the compact but are willing to continue the conversation. The bill is scheduled for another public hearing Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Arizona bar and club gambling proposal advances - but only for keno - AZCentral.com