Sports Betting, Water, and Education: Issues Raised by Colorado Tribal Chiefs in Historic State Capitol Speech

sports betting

The two tribes have been left out of the state’s booming sports betting industry, Hart and Southern Ute chairman Melvin J. Baker said in a speech.

“Each tribe operates its own casino, but there was no consultation with the tribes during the passage of that law,” said Baker. Sports betting legalized by 2019 ballot initiative, Proposition DD it was done. State legislators drafted the text of the law.

Two Tribes Casino already offers sports betting in several forms, including online betting through the Southern Ute Casino sportsbook.

However, neither tribe’s sportsbook is licensed through Colorado, and the tribe’s gaming agreement with the state does not cover sports betting. I was.

As Baker pointed out, federal law mandates that casino earnings be used for the benefit of tribal members. Under state agreements, tribal casinos are not subject to state taxation.

However, state gambling laws impose a 10% tax on casino house winnings and put the money toward the state’s water plan. It goes against current arrangements and tribal sovereignty, Hart said.

“We should not be regulated as a Colorado entity,” he said. A spokesman for the State Department of Revenue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

education

The first charter school recently opened at Ute Mountain Ute Land. Hart said the tribe wants to implement a full K-12 charter school and possibly a trade school and junior college.

But “it requires future capital funds that we don’t have today.”

Indigenous history should also be incorporated into statewide educational curricula, Hart said. .

“Now is the time to ensure that the country’s oldest continuous residents, their history, are needed in the curriculum and the (public education) system. , if we look back at true history, whose life and liberty and our tribe’s right to live as a free sovereign nation were sacrificed,” he said.

Other requests

Hart raised some additional concerns, such as the declining tribal hunting grounds. He said it was done.

He also called on legislators to make tribal ID cards universally acceptable for check cashing and other situations.

Both Hart and Baker praised the legislators, with Baker stating that “Colorado is a leader among all states when it comes to respecting tribal and national ties.”

The two called for future cooperation.

“We at Ute have lost a lot over time,” Hart said. “We all claim these lands as home, but let’s look at the systems of the past and what has been taken away. To do.”