OKLAHOMA CITY – Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a letter to all tribes on Wednesday notifying them of an eight-month extension to the current compacts.
The correspondence was sent to ‘alleviate any questions or concerns that lenders, employees, entertainers, vendors, and patrons have concerning whether the Class III gaming activities at the casinos are legal as of January 1, 2020,’ and extend the contracts to Aug. 31, 2020.
Tribal leaders throughout the state collectively issued a response, which was delivered to the governor on Friday. It was signed by 32 tribal representatives, including Choctaw Chief Gary Batton and Chickasaw Governor Bill Anoatubby.
The letter reads as follows:
Dear Governor Stitt:
We, the undersigned Tribal leaders, write to you to express our view on the status of the Tribal-State
Gaming Compacts with our respective Tribes and Nations. We remain united in our position that the plain
meaning of the Compact language “shall automatically renew” if the State takes governmental action to
authorize electronic gaming at licensed racetracks on January 1, 2020, means exactly what it says.
As you know, the State, among other actions, through its Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, has taken
that State action by issuing licenses to horse tracks for electronic gaming, effective January 1, 2020.
There is no credible legal argument to the contrary, as your continuing failure to provide us with a written
legal analysis confirms. Since the compacts, by the terms approved and offered by over 850,000
Oklahomans in 2004, automatically renew, Class III Tribal Governmental Gaming on January 1, 2020,
will continue to be lawful. We will keep our promises and continue to send our exclusivity fees to the
State.
We regard your threats to our vendors, who are not parties to the compacts, as inappropriate. As you
know, the State has no legal authority to determine the legality of, or otherwise regulate, gaming on
Indian land, including the acts of vendors in support of Tribal Governmental Gaming. Of course, Tribes
are the primary regulators of those vendors. In any event, since the Compact “shall automatically renew,”
on January 1, 2020, the vendors will be assisting Tribal Governmental Gaming from that day forward. We
will continue to support our vendors, including against any unlawful attack by the State.
Additionally, your unfounded claim about illegal gaming is offensive to our hardworking employees, our
citizens, and our numerous governmental and charitable organizations that benefit from our gaming. We
are confident that those beneficiaries will continue to share, without interruption, in the fruits of our
lawful governmental activity.
Finally, we are particularly concerned about your authority to offer an extension of the Compacts. The
People enacted the model Compact as an act of legislation and through their legislation offered it to our
Nations and Tribes. We see no participation by the Oklahoma Legislature in what is clearly an attempt to
materially amend State law. We decline your unauthorized offer of an extension.
We hope that this united letter will encourage you to acknowledge the clear language used by the
Oklahoma citizens who adopted the model Compact. If you agree that our Compacts automatically renew
January 1, 2020, we are open to negotiate in good faith.