Cornyn, GOP clash over tribal gaming

Texas’ senior senator stands against bill that would move regulation to the federal level

WASHINGTON — Congress is poised to allow gaming on the lands of two Native American tribes in Texas after the U.S. House passed a bill pushed by Texas Republicans to take the matter out of the hands of state officials, who have tried for years to shut down bingo facilities on the reservations.

But standing in the way of the bipartisan legislation is U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has pushed back on the bill in the Senate, siding with Texas’ top elected officials who view the bill as the federal government’s latest attempt to bigfoot state law that bans gaming.

Cornyn, who is among the most powerful Republicans in the Senate, has urged the committee that would oversee the legislation not to hold hearings on it until the state and tribes can reach a “resolution” — something that has been out of reach for more than a decade as the two sides have battled in court.

The gambling bill is a rare instance of the longtime Republican senator clashing with members of the Texas delegation from his own party, including U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, who authored the legislation.

Babin and 18 other members of the Texas delegation, 10 Republicans and eight Democrats, wrote to Cornyn last month urging him to support the bill. They wrote that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta gaming facilities have an estimated $645 million annual impact on the economies of El Paso and Livingston, where they are based, respectively — “two areas that traditionally have high unemployment rates even before the pandemic.”

It’s also a position that could cost Cornyn some support in East Texas as he faces what many expect to be his most difficult reelection fight yet. It’s a reliably Republican area, but one where virtually every elected official has backed the Alabama-Coushatta tribe’s electronic bingo operation, which

they say supports hundreds of jobs in Polk County. Many have sought to turn up the heat on Cornyn in recent weeks.

“This bill and the jobs it would save have been left to hang in the balance by our senior senator,” Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy, a Republican, wrote in an oped in the Freestone County Times. “His unwillingness to support and assist us on this issue is at odds with pro-business principles, and East Texas could suffer as a result.”

A spokesman for Cornyn said the senator’s position has not changed since he wrote to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last October asking them not to take up the legislation. At the time, Cornyn wrote that Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, all Republicans, have “concerns” with the legislation.

“This matter is currently the subject of litigation in federal court,” Cornyn wrote at the time. “In light of these legal and policy disagreements between the Texas state government and these tribes,

I request any committee hearings concerning this legislation be postponed until these parties have reached a resolution or agreement.”

Longtime effort

Cornyn’s roadblock in the Senate is the latest setback for the tribes in their yearslong effort to establish their right to offer electronic bingo on their lands, something both tribes do, despite attempts by the state to shut down their facilities.

Gaming is illegal in Texas and current federal law prohibits gambling on certain tribal lands unless authorized by the state. A 1988 federal law restored the two tribes’ federal recognition, but included language prohibiting gaming on their lands — something in line with state law of the time. That prohibition, however, was not included in legislation recognizing another tribe in Texas, the Kickapoo, which freely operates a gaming facility in Eagle Pass.

Texas, meanwhile, allows some bingo facilities to operate, but the proceeds have to go to charity, and local elections have to approve them.

The new federal legislation would make clear that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta can offer gaming on their lands under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, another federal law that regulates gaming on tribal lands. That law created the National Indian Gaming Commission, which has given the green light to both tribes already. But the state of Texas has consistently sought to shut them down.

“For decades the federal government said Native American tribes need to become self sufficient,” said Cecilia Flores, chairwoman of the Alabama-Coushatta tribal council. “We finally figured out how to do that. … This could help us on our own two feet — to stay self sufficient.”

The tribe is the second largest employer in Polk County, and the bingo hall it opened in 2016 — its latest attempt to offer gaming after getting approval from the federal commission the year before — supports some 700 jobs. The tribe relies on the money the facility generates to fund everything from its police and fire departments to Head Start and health programs. It’s seen as a boon to the local economy, with an estimated impact of $170 million annually.

A dozen local elected officials and business leaders signed a letter that ran as a paid advertisement in the Austin AmericanStatesman this summer, specifically calling on Cornyn to support the legislation.

“Everybody gets it, from the most conservative county commissioners in East Texas. I have made presentations, and they all get it,” Flores said. “They know that Texas families need these jobs.”

Flores has tried to make the pitch to Cornyn, as well. She said she attended a 2019 fundraiser in Tyler County where she asked the senator face to face if he would support the legislation. She said Cornyn said he would, but that Flores would “have to work on the governor.”

Abbott has said the legislation “violates principles of federalism by allowing the expansion of gaming in Texas without state oversight and in violation of the Texas Constitution.”

“I oppose this legislation, as well as any federal legislation that expands gaming in Texas,” Abbott wrote in a letter last year to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

“I strongly encourage Congress to reject this attempt to restrict Texas’ power to regulate activities within its borders.”

In the letter, Abbott pointed out that the courts have so far sided with the state, ruling in Texas’ favor in 2002, 2003, 2018 and again last year, when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the state.

High court ruling?

The issue could go to the Supreme Court, though Texas has argued the court shouldn’t take it up.

Paxton wrote in a brief that there is “no need” for the court’s involvement — because Congress may soon act on the matter.

“Indeed, legislation is currently pending that would allow the Alabama-Coushatta and Pueblo to take advantage of IGRA’s permissive gaming regime,” Paxton wrote. “The House passed that bill in July with bipartisan support, and it is now awaiting Senate action.”

Flores said that sums up the situation: “It’s always putting it off on someone else.”