PHOENIX β Supporters of a new casino near Glendale won a temporary victory Friday when the U.S. House postponed a vote on a bill designed to kill it.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy agreed to a demand by Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva to yank HR 308, which would prohibit gaming at the site, from a βsuspension calendar,β a process that would have bypassed floor debate and allowed a vote without actually putting representatives on record.
Grijalva said it was improper procedure for such a controversial β and potentially costly β measure. No reason was provided by House leadership. And no date has been set for a formal vote.
The measure would allow the Tohono Oβodham Nation to keep the land near Glendale the tribe was authorized to purchase in 1986 as compensation for a federal dam project that flooded 10,000 acres of reservation near Gila Bend. And it would retain its status as part of the reservation.
But the bill would effectively amend that 1986 law to say the property cannot be used for any form of gaming until 2027. That is when current gaming compacts between the state and various tribes expire.
The chances of Grijalva bottling up the measure in the House, however, could be minimal.
An identical bill was approved by the House two years ago on a voice vote. And the year before that, with an actual roll call, a similar bill passed 343-78.
The only thing that has so far kept it from reaching the presidentβs desk is that none of the prior versions have made it out of the Senate.
βWin or lose (the House vote), then we go on to the Senate where itβs never gotten out of, regardless of who is in the majority,β Grijalva said.
Arizonaβs Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, introduced identical legislation in January, even getting S 152 approved by the Committee on Indian Affairs.
It has yet to be scheduled for floor action.
Republican Rep. Trent Franks, who is sponsoring HR 308, contends the Tohono Oβodham Nation misled Arizonans in 2002 when they voted to give tribes the exclusive right to operate casinos in exchange for a share of revenues.
Franks said supporters of that ballot proposition said it would limit gaming to existing reservations. U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell ruled two years ago that what voters believed is legally irrelevant in that case.
