WETUMPKA, Ala. -- Former Gov. Don Siegelman said Wednesday that Gov. Bob Riley has not done enough to stop the expansion of gambling at Indian-owned facilities in Alabama and that the state should now find a way to tax the games.
Standing in the parking lot of a Wetumpka gaming center where the Poarch Creek Indians operate 538 electronic gambling machines, Siegelman told news reporters the state should negotiate a compact that would allow the Indians to operate casinos, provided they paid a substantial amount of money to the state.
Siegelman has said he is considering entering the Democratic primary for governor next year, but has not officially announced. He sounded very much like a candidate as he criticized the Republican governor while customers at the gaming facility walked by, some stopping to shake hands with the former governor.
"It is absurd that he (Riley) tried to tax air conditioning repairmen and car repairmen and let these casinos get by without paying nothing," Siegelman said, pointing to the facility. The former governor was referring to Riley's $1.2 billion tax plan that was defeated by voters in 2003. One part of the plan would have levied a tax on repair work.
Riley's spokesman John Matson said the governor opposes expansion of gambling in Alabama, including at the Indian facilities in Wetumpka, Atmore and Montgomery.
"The governor's position on this issue is clear. He opposes the expansion of gambling in Alabama," Matson said.
Arthur Mothershed, chief financial officer for the Poarch Creek's three gaming facilities, said the tribe has never opposed negotiating a compact with the state.
"It's always been our position that we would be willing to open talks with the state. We're open to discussions of revenue sharing," Mothershed said.
Federal law allows Indian tribes to operate any type of gambling that is legal in a state and not pay taxes to the state. But governors in some states have negotiated compacts with Indians that allow them to operate other types of gambling on their tribal lands, provided they make payments to the state.
Currently the Indian facilities operate only the electronic machines and do not offer table games such as blackjack, dice or roulette, which are considered Class 3 gambling and are illegal in Alabama. Mothershed said any negotiations with the state would include allowing the tribe to operate Class 3 machines.
Construction is currently underway to expand the Wetumpka facility, which Mothershed said will by 2007 include a casino with more than 45,000 square feet of gaming space and 800 employees.
The Indian facilities initially opened as bingo centers and the games are called electronic bingo. Holding a child's bingo game, Siegelman said there is no comparison between what most people consider bingo and the games offered at the gaming centers.
"Bingo used to be a little game where you called out numbers and when you filled out your card you yelled 'bingo' and you won a prize," Siegelman said. "I'm going to show you in here slot machines that they call bingo."
Mothershed and other Poarch officials allowed reporters to walk through the facility and to observe and photograph patrons playing the gaming machines.
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