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More reasons to reach accord over bingo--ISSUE: Catawbas' right under S.C. settlement

OUR VIEW: Forget the video poker talk, Catawbas and S.C. should reach accord to allow Santee operation

The Catawba Indian Nation's attorney created quite a stir when he said a month ago that the tribe may take to operating video poker on the Rock Hill reservation if a high-stakes bingo operation in Santee is rejected.

Gov. Mark Sanford, a key opponent of the Santee operation based on Catawba insistence that it be under federal jurisdiction, is among those saying lawyer Jay Bender is wrong. The state outlawing video poker applies to the Catawbas, Sanford says.

Now comes the South Carolina Policy Council, a conservative think tank that has aggressively fought video poker and the state lottery, with an expert opinion re-enforcing Bender's contention.

A 1993 settlement agreement reached with the state allows the Catawbas to operate video gambling machines even in counties where it is prohibited, Greenville attorney Wallace K. Lightsey wrote in an analysis prepared for the policy council.

"There would be a substantial risk of litigation -- and a substantial risk of the state's losing such litigation -- should the tribe initiate video poker operations and the state attempt to prosecute or shut down the operation," Lightsey wrote.

Operating video poker in Rock Hill is not what the Catawbas want. The Catawbas want to come to Santee to operate a high-tech bingo operation in which games are played electronically. They want federal status under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in order to link their bingo machines with those on other reservations. That will ensure the large jackpots that can make the operation prosper. Without federal status, there can be no high-stakes bingo.

State leaders, including U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose support is crucial if IGRA status is to win congressional OK, say they fear the federal status will lead to the Catawbas operating a casino in Santee that offers other gambling.

The Catawbas insist their only objective is bingo and the enabling legislation would prohibit any gambling other than bingo.

Refusal to grant federal status has led to the analysis of the state agreement reached with the Catawbas in 1993 that ended a dispute over the tribe's native land. That pact allowed one bingo operation in Rock Hill and another elsewhere in the state.

Sanford and others say that if the Catawbas want a bingo operation in Santee, operate it under the state pact. The Catawbas say it cannot be profitable that way and contend now that the state has undermined the pact by getting into the lottery business.

If the policy council study and the Catawbas' attorney's words, and even the analysis of Sen. Graham himself, are on target, there is reason for South Carolina to return to the negotiating table with the Catawbas. The state otherwise may lose a court case.

Sadly, the assessment from Lightsey and the resulting headines about video poker will do more to scare people away from approving the Catawbas' operation in Santee. The reasoning will be that if loopholes in the current law could allow video poker, then there will be ways around any federal law. That would mean casino gambling in Santee.

It just won't happen that way.

If the state law is flawed and the state is at risk of liability in the current agreement, it is time to sit down with the Catawbas and negotiate a reasonable accord. Allowing the tribe to operate a bingo facility in Santee under the same rules that apply to nearly every other tribe in the country is reasonable. The enabling legislation will stipulate that no other forms of gambling are to be allowed there unless the state of South Carolina specifically approves through a change in its laws.

Despite all the headlines and rhetoric, the bingo operation in Santee enjoys the support of public and private leaders in Orangeburg County. It has the high-level backing of Congressman Jim Clyburn, Sen. Ernest Hollings and others. It has popular support.

It's time for the state of South Carolina and the Catawbas to get together on the Santee bingo matter -- and not in the courtroom.