Obama Administration Re-thinking Commute Distance Directive

The Obama administration, specifically the Interior Department, which runs the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is considering reversing a directive by the Bush administration which required that off-reservation casino sites be within commuting distance of the reservation.

George Skibine, a deputy assistant secretary at the BIA said,"It's an important issue. It's a controversial issue and they're rethinking it.” Skibine indicated that a decision on whether to change the policy would happen "fairly soon."

Support to keep the existing commute directive is coming from existing casinos who see the elimination of the rule as an increase in competition in an already struggling gaming industry due to hard economic times.

Tribes who do not have casino/resorts and who support the removal of the rule are saying that it could be a way to stimulate the economy without using tax dollars.

"Some governors have embraced this as a way to close their budget deficits," said Larry Rosenthal, a partner at Ietan Consulting LLC, a lobbying firm that represents Indian tribes.

There are about 22 Indian casinos on non-reservation land and there are about 20 tribes who currently have off-reservation plans in the works.

Some tribes, like the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon wants to develop a casino along the Columbia River Gorge and say the site is part of their ancestral lands.

"We'd just be going back home," said Lewis Pitt, spokesman for the Warm Springs Tribes.