Four Extra WA Tribes Strike A Tentative Agreement With WA Gambling Commission On ETG Compact Amendment

On July 3, the Washington State Gambling Commission, Washington’s gambling regulatory agency, revealed that it had struck a tentative agreement with 4 extra WA federally recognized tribes, such as the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Spokane Tribe and the Suquamish Tribe. Additionally, all of the aforementioned tribes agreed to embrace the proposed compact amendment language discussed by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe for electronic table games (ETG).

Proposed compact amendments:

As for the proposed compact amendments, they will initiate a new framework for electronic table games offered at each tribe’s individual gaming properties.

Additionally, the upcoming process for these tentative agreements involves several steps. First of all, a joint Legislative hearing will be held on July 10, 2023, which will enable the Senate Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade and House Regulated Substances & Gaming Committees to consider the agreements. After that, the Gambling Commission will then officially vote on the proposed compact amendment throughout its public meeting on July 20, 2023, to determine whether to forward it to the Governor.

If validated, the amendment will be sent to the Tribal Chair for final review and signature. In the event that both the Governor and Tribal Chair have signed the amendment, it will be forwarded to the Secretary of the United States Department of Interior for review and release in the Federal Register. In that regard, the Washington State Gambling Commissioners emphasized that the public has the chance to submit comments on the proposed compact amendment by emailing [email protected].

A compact amendment is only final if published in the Federal Register: