• Home
• Latest Casino Articles

Tiguas and Alabama-Coushatta Tribe Lobbies for Reopening of Casinos in Texas

On April 4th, 2009, two Indian tribes petitioned Texas legislators to let them reopen casino facilities they say will help them pay for health care, education and other important services for their tribal members. The leaders of the Tigua tribe of El Paso and the Alabama-Coushatta of Livingston testified before a Texas House subcommittee on the first casino gaming bill to get a hearing this session.

Democratic Representative Norma Chavez of El Paso, Texas said that the Tiguas tribe utilized their gaming profits wisely, adding that the tribe's gaming revenues of $50 million to $60 million annually paid for college scholarships, library, recreational facility and healthcare. Chavez said that the tribe's unemployment rate dropped in that period.

The Speaking Rock casino facility employed around eight hundred people while it was open for business for nine years starting in 1993 and was an economic stimulus to the El Paso Area. Chavez said that residents in El Paso continue to play in nearby New Mexico. Representative Chavez's legislation would give a defense to prosecution for Tribal casino managed by the Tiguas tribe and the Alabama-Coushatta tribe. That same bill barely failed in the House in 2007 on a rare tie vote. Texas closed down the tribes' casinos in 2002.

Only the Kickapoo Tribe of Eagle Pass, managed by a different law, runs a casino facility in Texas. Alabama-Coushatta tribal chairman Carlos Bullock said that his tribe's casino facility in East Texas was open for only nine months, but they immediately saw the benefits right away and had hoped to give services the Tiguas were able to supply the local community. Bullock told before the House Criminal Jurisprudence subcommittee that the Tiguas tribe and the Alabama-Coushatta tribe both have long histories in Texas and they want to continue to have a good relationship with one another.

The two tribes say that they should be permitted to offer gaming because Texas voters approved state lottery in 1991. Rep. Chavez's proposal does not address taxation or profit-sharing for the casino facilities. A proposal by Rep. Chavez before a different House committee would allow Texas voters decide on a proposed constitutional amendment to permit the Tiguas casino to offer casino gaming.

One Tigua tribe member addressed the issue raised by a legislator that the Tiguas do not permit women to vote in tribal elections. The director of economic development for the tribe, Patricia Riggs said that she is a well-educated individual, holds a vital role in tribal affairs and does not feel abused by not voting in these issues. She added that change will come when the time is appropriate and tribal women will vote on these matters.

04/19/2009 20:10 PM

Top Online Casinos

News Headlines