Squaxin Island Tribe, state reach tentative agreement on amended gaming compact

The Washington State Gambling Commission and the Squaxin Island Tribe announced a tentative agreement on an amended and restated tribal-state gaming compact during a State Government Tribal Relations Committee work session.

Tina Griffin, director of the Gambling Commission, said the parties have reached a tentative agreement and praised tribal negotiators for their collaboration. "We have reached tentative agreement on an amended, restated tribal-state gaming compact," she said, noting the compact updates are intended to align the Squaxin Island Tribe's compact with changes other tribes have adopted.

The compact restatement reorganizes and consolidates appendices and adds or updates several technical provisions. Johnny Bray, tribal relations adviser for the Gambling Commission, said the compact incorporates restated appendices A, B, S, W, X and Y, removes certain addenda that were incorporated elsewhere, and adds new appendices including one for electronic table games (ETG).

Key provisions described by commission staff include higher wager and facility ceilings: table-game wager ceilings described in the presentation rise to $1,000 for typical table games, with prescreened customers in designated high-limit areas permitted wagers up to $5,000; facility limits described include up to 125 gaming stations and up to 3,000 player terminals across all facilities. The ETG appendix would permit electronic table games with wager limits up to $500 and—per the presentation—a 9-to-1 ratio of electronic stations to physical tables. The amendment also authorizes extension of credit for qualified patrons and updates responsible-gaming and problem-gambling commitments.

Ray Peters, tribal council liaison for the Squaxin Island Tribe, said the changes "clarify the existing compact, improving the ability of the tribe to regulate and manage the casino," and added the amendments would support employment and funding for tribal services such as housing and health care.

Committee members pressed staff on consumer-protection and public-safety issues. Representative Walsh said she was "concerned about the increase in the size of the maximum wagers" and whether higher stakes correlate with more problem gambling. Commission staff and the tribal representative said the state does not maintain statewide data tying wager-limit increases to increased gambling harm, noted higher limits (including $5,000) have been authorized for other tribes since about 2018–2019, and emphasized that use of high-limit areas would require prescreening and other responsible-gaming measures under the compact.

The Gambling Commission staff said public comment will be accepted at and before the commission meeting set for Thursday, Feb. 12, at 9:30 a.m., and that commissioners and statutorily-designated ex officio members will vote there on whether to forward the proposed amendment to the governor for review and, if approved by the governor and forwarded by the tribe to the Secretary of the Interior, for publication in the Federal Register.

Next steps: the commission will take public comment and vote on Feb. 12; if the commission forwards the compact, the governor reviews it and the tribe may then submit it to the Department of the Interior for final federal publication and effectiveness.