The Governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, has sent a letter out to numerous officials, including the leaders of the nine tribes and Oregon Lottery Director Mike Wells, explaining her stance on the proposed tribal casinos.
This comes in response to the Coquille tribe’s efforts to open a casino in Medford and the Siletz Tribe in Salem.
In a statement, Kotek said: “Throughout my legislative career, during my campaign for this office, and since the start of my administration, I have been clear that I do not favour an expansion of gaming.
“This applies to tribes and the state.
“Therefore, my policy on Tribal gaming facilities maintains the status quo from past governors, i.e., good faith bargaining between sovereign tribes and the state on one gaming facility per tribe on reservation land.”
Although the Coquille tribe already has one casino, it is in a relatively remote area and the one-casino-per-tribe doctrine is not a law.
When Gov. John Kitzhaber established the policy in 1997, he did it in an attempt to prevent Oregon from relying on lottery proceeds.
This was at a time when lottery revenue was at $700m; however, the financial report for the Oregon State Lottery in 2022 showed a revenue of $1.7bn.
Brenda Meade, Chair of Coquille Tribe, said: “Oregon’s governors consistently say they want to prevent the proliferation of casinos, but the state is the biggest casino promoter in Oregon.
“The Oregon Lottery’s growing video gaming empire is everywhere—grocery stores, bowling alleys, restaurants, lottery parlours and now even on the internet.”
