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'And the tribal casino is an important source of jobs and an important source of government revenue, but not enough to make it so that the tribe now has a surplus of money to spend.' The Standing. But that doesn't mean the millions started flowing overnight –setting up tribal casinos involves tribal compacts with the state, casino licensing, and most of all: lots of money. Barriers to Entry. There are 562 federally-recognized tribes in the U.S., but only 200 operate casinos.

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By Levi Rickert

Accessing relief funds will be a 'scramble' as national organizations sort through details

WASHINGTON — Financial help is on the way for tribal casinos and, by extension, tribal governments that rely on gaming to finance many essential services throughout Indian Country.

Senate passage of a historic $2 trillion economic rescue plan includes billions in funding that tribes and tribal casinos can access. But obtaining those funds is going to be 'a scramble,' according to one expert, even as national Native American organizations work furiously to sort through details and help tribes navigate governmental regulations and processes.

The funding can't come quickly enough for American Indian and Alaska Native communities, which are suffering significant financial shortfalls due to closure of tribal casinos across Indian Country.

Late Wednesday night, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a $2 trillion economic rescue plan called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, that offers relief to individual Americans and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Act on today, and President Trump has indicated he will sign the bill immediately.

Several key funding provisions of the CARES Act could provide relief to tribes that are suffering from the loss of revenues from casino closures, including the following:

U.S. Dept. of Treasury Tribal Stabilization Fund—Section 601 provides $8 billion in emergency relief funds to Indian Tribes. These funds will be available to tribal governments who certify that the funds will be used to offset expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In consultation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, these funds will be disbursed by the Secretary of Treasury.

U.S. Dept. of Treasury's Loans and Guarantee Loans—Section 4002 makes Indian Tribes, and their businesses, eligible for the $454 billion loan guarantee fund.

While there are billions in funds accessible through the CARES Act, one source of aid is off limits at present. Tribal casinos will not be able to access more than $350 billion in emergency loans available through the U.S. Small Business Association, which is prohibited from lending money to casinos or gaming operations by federal law, according to an SBA official. However, non-gaming tribal enterprises with fewer than 500 employees will be able to access the SBA funding.

On Thursday afternoon more than a thousand tribal leaders participated on a virtual town hall hosted by several national American Indian organizations that included: the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA); National Congress of American Indians (NCAI); National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA); National Indian Health Board (NIHB); National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH);National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC); National Indian Education Association (NIEA); and Native American Contractors Association (NACA).

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Leaders from all the organizations are committed to working collaboratively to assist tribes in navigating the process as funds are released by the Treasury Dept. On the town hall call Thursday, NCAI CEO Kevin Allis said the organizations are working to build a strategy 'that will ensure that everything Congress intended in this legislation is properly implemented and distributed out to Indian Country.'

'Just as we had a strategic approach to get stuff in the bill — and in future bills — we're going to have a very focused and comprehensive strategic approach that now focuses on the [Trump] administration, to make sure they do what they've been asked to do,' Allis said.

One centerpiece of the Act for Indian Country is the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CVF).The 'use of funds' provision the Act states that CVF payments to tribal, state and local government can cover only those costs that: (1) are necessary expenditures due to COVID-19; (2) were not accounted for in the most recently approved tribal government budget; and (3) were incurred between March 1 - December 30, 2020.

'The most important things I am to tell you on this call is at the National Indian Gaming Association is we are currently working to providing tribes with guidance on how to structure tribes with a programs—or programs—so that they can meet the criteria of this coronavirus relief fund,' Jason Giles (Muscogee Creek), executive director, NIGA said during the virtual town hall.

Giles called the insertion of the $8 billion tribal stabilization fund 'historic.' He said tribes were left out of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and the tax bill in 2017.

The tribal stabilization fund will allow tribes to keep employees paid during the closures.

'Tribes will be able tell their employees, ‘We're not going to ditch you like Marriott, Hilton and all these big guys that are already cutting tens of thousand employees. We're trying to hold on to our employees',' Giles said.

'We are going to be leaning on a lot of folks, and this is going to have to happen in the next 30 days or whenever the Treasury Department gets the regulations out. We don't know exactly when the clock will begin clicking,' Giles said. 'It's going to be a scramble.'

On Thursday, tribal leaders working through their Indian gaming associations, were reviewing the CARES Act that builds on the two previously approved pieces of Congressional bills to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19.

'Tribal leadership is carefully evaluating each proposed item within the CARES Act, and its precursors,' Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan (Chickasaw Nation) said. 'Tribal Nations are in the process of identifying and determining how best to utilize these relief packages to care for their citizens, the public health and safety needs within their jurisdictions and their tribal economies, which include but are not limited to tribal governmental gaming operations and associated entertainment amenities,'

The California Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) says voluntarily shutting down its tribal gaming facilities was the responsible decision to make, however, the decision to close resulted in tribal governments revenue streams being reduced to zero overnight, which losses come with an enormous cost to its tribal citizens and local communities where they are located.

'Specifically, funding will be made available to tribal governments in the form of a mix of federal loan guarantees, direct funding and unemployment insurance assistance, relief for health initiatives, including special diabetes programs, and housing programs. The devil, as usual, is in the details as to how tribes will be able to assess and utilize the fund,' CNIGA Chairman James Siva (Morongo Band of Mission Indians) told Native News Online on Thursday night. 'While $8 billion certainly provides some relief, the figure is certainly short of what is ultimately needed.'

The CARES Act was the third phase of relief for the COVID-19 pandemic by Congress. Tribal leaders who participated in the town hall call say more funds may be needed because it is still unclear how long tribal casinos may remain shuttered due to the public health threat.

Congressional representatives and Indian Country leaders on the town hall call said they're already looking to a fourth funding package to combat coronavirus.

'The work is not done for us,' NCAI CEO Allis said.

It's December 2020, can you help...

We're asking our readers for a little help as 2020 draws to a close. If you can afford it, we hope you'll consider a one-time donation of $5 or more to help fund our Indigenous-led coverage of important news throughout Indian Country. Covering the news hasn't been easy this year, but we believe it's been critically important given the changes and upheaval we've experienced — from COVID-19 and the 2020 Census, to issues of racial equity, efforts to suppress the Native vote, and far too many stories of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.

Because we believe everyone in Indian Country deserves equal access to news and commentary pertaining to them, their relatives and their communities, the story you've just finished was free — and we want to keep it that way, for all readers. But we hope it inspires you to make a gift to Native News Online so that we can continue publishing more stories that make a difference to Native people, whether they live on or off the reservation. Your donation will help us keep producing quality journalism and elevating Indigenous voices. Any contribution of any amount, big or small, gives us a better, stronger future and allows us to remain a force for change. Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.

When Muscogee Creek Nation, the nation's fourth-largest tribe, closed its casinos six weeks ago, that suddenly halted a revenue stream that provided school clothes for children, support for the elderly and health care for thousands.

'We're losing about $5 million a month. It's a tremendous hit,' said Jason Salsman, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and the tribe's communications director.

Nearly 1,000 casinos across the country have closed since coronavirus hit the U.S., according to the American Gaming Association. More than half of those are on Native American land, where the facilities supplement chronically underfunded health and education programs.

Now, many tribes are cutting into their own reserves to keep casinos, often their economic lifeblood, above water, while also keeping thousands employed and with health care.

Initially, payroll deficits suffered by tribal casinos were expected to be repaid by the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, a loan for small businesses to help cover payroll and utilities that could be forgiven after eight weeks. But, unexpectedly, Indian gaming operations were left out of the first round of PPP.

Tribal leaders described it as a 'doubly whammy' and a 'massive hit.'

'We're not business casinos, we're community casinos,' Salsman told ABC News. 'Although I feel bad for the industry, when a casino goes down in Las Vegas, it's different. Tribal casinos are taking those casino revenues and putting them right back into the community.

'This is a loss of real services, and real human services, to our people. It's not only a money issue, it's a humanitarian issue, and it really hurts.'

Meanwhile, in many states, the virus has disproportionately hit Native Americans. With comparatively higher rates of diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure, tribal members who become infected are more at risk for a serious case. Meanwhile, poverty and close living quarters on reservations can allow COVID-19 to spread more quickly.

And though some Native American communities received good news on Friday, when they were told casinos with fewer than 500 employees could apply to the second round of PPP, the win was bittersweet: Those 125 casinos found themselves at the back of the line.

Gallery by photo services

'The fear, which was never clearly answered here, is that we're behind a queue of applications that are already in backlog,' said Dante Desiderio, a tribal member of the Sappony and executive director the Native American Finance Officers Association. 'So yeah, it's great that the guidance was changed. But it's also disappointing that it was ever in doubt in the first place.'

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who's led the paycheck relief program run by the Small Business Association, has said it's his goal for the money to be distributed quickly and for the program to come to a halt -- presumably with the millions requiring assistance on their way to financial recovery.

'We are going to be leaning on a lot of folks, and this is going to have to happen in the next 30 days or whenever the Treasury Department gets the regulations out. We don't know exactly when the clock will begin clicking,' Giles said. 'It's going to be a scramble.'

On Thursday, tribal leaders working through their Indian gaming associations, were reviewing the CARES Act that builds on the two previously approved pieces of Congressional bills to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19.

'Tribal leadership is carefully evaluating each proposed item within the CARES Act, and its precursors,' Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan (Chickasaw Nation) said. 'Tribal Nations are in the process of identifying and determining how best to utilize these relief packages to care for their citizens, the public health and safety needs within their jurisdictions and their tribal economies, which include but are not limited to tribal governmental gaming operations and associated entertainment amenities,'

The California Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) says voluntarily shutting down its tribal gaming facilities was the responsible decision to make, however, the decision to close resulted in tribal governments revenue streams being reduced to zero overnight, which losses come with an enormous cost to its tribal citizens and local communities where they are located.

'Specifically, funding will be made available to tribal governments in the form of a mix of federal loan guarantees, direct funding and unemployment insurance assistance, relief for health initiatives, including special diabetes programs, and housing programs. The devil, as usual, is in the details as to how tribes will be able to assess and utilize the fund,' CNIGA Chairman James Siva (Morongo Band of Mission Indians) told Native News Online on Thursday night. 'While $8 billion certainly provides some relief, the figure is certainly short of what is ultimately needed.'

The CARES Act was the third phase of relief for the COVID-19 pandemic by Congress. Tribal leaders who participated in the town hall call say more funds may be needed because it is still unclear how long tribal casinos may remain shuttered due to the public health threat.

Congressional representatives and Indian Country leaders on the town hall call said they're already looking to a fourth funding package to combat coronavirus.

'The work is not done for us,' NCAI CEO Allis said.

It's December 2020, can you help...

We're asking our readers for a little help as 2020 draws to a close. If you can afford it, we hope you'll consider a one-time donation of $5 or more to help fund our Indigenous-led coverage of important news throughout Indian Country. Covering the news hasn't been easy this year, but we believe it's been critically important given the changes and upheaval we've experienced — from COVID-19 and the 2020 Census, to issues of racial equity, efforts to suppress the Native vote, and far too many stories of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.

Because we believe everyone in Indian Country deserves equal access to news and commentary pertaining to them, their relatives and their communities, the story you've just finished was free — and we want to keep it that way, for all readers. But we hope it inspires you to make a gift to Native News Online so that we can continue publishing more stories that make a difference to Native people, whether they live on or off the reservation. Your donation will help us keep producing quality journalism and elevating Indigenous voices. Any contribution of any amount, big or small, gives us a better, stronger future and allows us to remain a force for change. Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.

When Muscogee Creek Nation, the nation's fourth-largest tribe, closed its casinos six weeks ago, that suddenly halted a revenue stream that provided school clothes for children, support for the elderly and health care for thousands.

'We're losing about $5 million a month. It's a tremendous hit,' said Jason Salsman, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and the tribe's communications director.

Nearly 1,000 casinos across the country have closed since coronavirus hit the U.S., according to the American Gaming Association. More than half of those are on Native American land, where the facilities supplement chronically underfunded health and education programs.

Now, many tribes are cutting into their own reserves to keep casinos, often their economic lifeblood, above water, while also keeping thousands employed and with health care.

Initially, payroll deficits suffered by tribal casinos were expected to be repaid by the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, a loan for small businesses to help cover payroll and utilities that could be forgiven after eight weeks. But, unexpectedly, Indian gaming operations were left out of the first round of PPP.

Tribal leaders described it as a 'doubly whammy' and a 'massive hit.'

'We're not business casinos, we're community casinos,' Salsman told ABC News. 'Although I feel bad for the industry, when a casino goes down in Las Vegas, it's different. Tribal casinos are taking those casino revenues and putting them right back into the community.

'This is a loss of real services, and real human services, to our people. It's not only a money issue, it's a humanitarian issue, and it really hurts.'

Meanwhile, in many states, the virus has disproportionately hit Native Americans. With comparatively higher rates of diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure, tribal members who become infected are more at risk for a serious case. Meanwhile, poverty and close living quarters on reservations can allow COVID-19 to spread more quickly.

And though some Native American communities received good news on Friday, when they were told casinos with fewer than 500 employees could apply to the second round of PPP, the win was bittersweet: Those 125 casinos found themselves at the back of the line.

Gallery by photo services

'The fear, which was never clearly answered here, is that we're behind a queue of applications that are already in backlog,' said Dante Desiderio, a tribal member of the Sappony and executive director the Native American Finance Officers Association. 'So yeah, it's great that the guidance was changed. But it's also disappointing that it was ever in doubt in the first place.'

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who's led the paycheck relief program run by the Small Business Association, has said it's his goal for the money to be distributed quickly and for the program to come to a halt -- presumably with the millions requiring assistance on their way to financial recovery.

But for tribes, that means this round of PPP might be their only shot to keep casinos -- and the vital programs they support -- afloat.

Gaming funds 'the programs the government doesn't'

In Niobrara, a small town in the northeastern corner of Nebraska, the Ohiya Casino and Resort employs 104 people.

But these days, no one is playing any of the 400 gaming machines.

The Santee Sioux Nation opened the casino in 2013 to tamp down high unemployment on the reservation, but since mid-March, no one's received a paycheck.

'It was heartbreaking to have to close and lay off a great number of employees,' Roger Trudell, chairman of the Santee Sioux Nation, told ABC News. 'We fought the United States government and the State of Nebraska for many years just to employ people to enable them to create a life for themselves.'

For many tribes like the Santee Sioux, revenue from gaming operations is their only source of income, and they urgently need federal assistance.

'We have to fight tooth and nail for everything, from health care to education,' he said.

Although tribes can now apply for PPP, Trudell said he doubts tribes will see any of that money 'because of how many other businesses applied first.'

In neighboring Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe lost funding for schools, law enforcement and community programs with the closure of the Clearwater River Casino.

'The gaming industry is important for tribes because it is what funds our community and the programs the government doesn't,' said Kermit Mankiller, tribal enterprises executive officer of the Nez Perce.

The tribe's casino closed March 18 but kept employees on the payroll.

'Our priority is our people and their wellbeing above anything else,' Mankiller said, 'but at this point, I'm not sure how long we can keep paying our employees.'

For many tribes, casino employees aren't just tribal members but members of surrounding communities. The closure of the three Choctaw Nation casinos, for example, has hit nearby parts of Oklahoma just as hard.

'We give to 87 public school districts, which are not just Choctaw,' said Chief Gary Batton of Choctaw Nation.

Those revenues also pay for law enforcement and higher education programs outside the tribe.

'We have never experienced anything like this,' Batton said. 'We are struggling with basic necessities.'

With the door to PPP open for casinos, how much is left?

When the news came on Friday that small casinos could apply for PPP, tribes had just three days to submit applications before the second round of funding opened up for the last time.

Some tribes had applications ready to go, having prepared them during weeks of lobbying Congress to let them apply for PPP. But for a program that's 'first come, first served,' the odds don't favor latecomers, said Michael Burcham, a professor at Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management.

'If it's phased-priority consideration, on a first-come, first-served basis, what's left? Not much,' Burcham said. 'Unless that changes, latecomers to this party are in a precarious spot to get funding in this second wave. When you think of a million [applications] sitting in the queue, if you're not in there, it would be a very tough thing to imagine getting funding.'

Still, to Republican Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, who for the past month has pushed for tribal casino PPP eligibility, having three days ahead of the second release of funding was a win, a senior aide told ABC News. Scrambling to apply was better than not being allowed to apply, but it remains a concern that casinos are toward the end of the funding queue.

Democratic Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, vice chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, echoed the concern that tribal casinos, because of the delay, wouldn't all receive enough funding.

'I am relieved that the SBA is correcting its harmful initial guidance, which unfairly excluded a significant number of Tribally owned businesses from the Paycheck Protection Program,' Udall said in a statement to ABC News. 'Unfortunately, the delay in reversing SBA's erroneous guidance has already put Tribal businesses at a disadvantage at a time of immense need.'

Udall, who said he personally urged Mnuchin to allow tribal casinos into PPP, asked the Trump administration to 'make a greater effort' to listen and include tribes in the ongoing coronavirus response.

But there is a glimmer of hope, Desiderio said, from some of the adjustments the government has made ahead of the second round of PPP funding, one of which specifically could benefit casinos.

The government has set aside $60 billion, 20% of the total pot of PPP money, for smaller banks that lend to minority-owned small businesses and businesses in more rural communities -- a group that includes tribal casinos.

'It's really helpful for us to be able to go through that route, rather than getting in the same queue at the larger, top banks, so that that is a bit of good news that Congress has considered that,' Desiderio said. 'It seems from conversations with SBA that they want to be able to include as many of the minority, disadvantaged communities, or the underserved, in their applicant pool.

'I believe that's going to be saving a lot of these applicants trying to get through the process.'

‘We have persevered'

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For many tribal leaders, being left out of a key part of the stimulus package wasn't the first time they'd felt neglected by the federal government, which over centuries has broken treaties and left many other promises unfulfilled.

'Indian Country's been through a lot in our history, and we have persevered. We're going to get through this,' said Ernie Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association. 'But in order for this American economy and for our economy to get through this, we need this administration, and we need the United States Congress, to understand and appreciate what we are and to be able to assist us going forward.'

In 2019, tribal gaming was a $40 billion industry, the 11th-largest employer in the U.S. with more than 780,000 direct and non-direct jobs. Among approximately 300,000 employees at tribal casinos, about half are Native Americans.

In other words, tribes aren't the only ones affected by closing casinos. Hundreds of thousands of employees, native and non-native, rely on tribal casinos for paychecks, not to mention the uptick in revenue seen by surrounding businesses.

'Those people are America's people, and those people keep the economic engines roaring in America,' Stevens said. 'A whole bunch of them are tribal government gaming employees, and all of them are our tribal government gaming family. So, we're all in this together.'

What to know about the coronavirus:

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• How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained
• What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms
• Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

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