By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Star
(Editor’s note: Rose Law Group represents Arizona House and Senate leadership in suit to stop the casino.)
Repeatedly rebuffed in court, the state and multiple Indian tribes are banking on federal legislation to block the Tohono O’odham Nation from building a casino on the edge of Glendale.
The measure introduced Tuesday by Republican U.S. Rep. Trent Franks would block any tribe that acquired new trust lands from building a casino in Maricopa or Pinal counties until at least 2027.
Franks’ legislation mentions no names. But its wording – and the lobbyist for the Gila River Indian Community who asked for it – make it clear the goal is to ensure that a fourth casino the O’odham Nation is entitled to build will go only in Pima County.
At the same time Tuesday, attorneys for the state and other tribes were in federal court asking U.S. District Judge David Campbell to bar the O’odham casino. They contend the initiative approved by voters in 2002 allowing for tribal gaming never was intended to allow the Tucson-area tribe to have a casino so far from its base. They cite language in the initiative limiting gaming to existing reservations.
