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Oklahoma Gaming Expansions a Hit

Posted on December 25th, 2010

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As Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry’s term in office comes to a close, supporters and analysts took steps to put his administration under scrutiny. It appears that Gov. Henry had worked wonders in Oklahoma, most particularly in terms of income generated by the state’s gambling industry. When he started his office in the year 2003, the state of Oklahoma was already earning around $466 million from gaming alone. However, Gov. Henry envisioned that the state of Oklahoma could earn more from the gambling industry, particularly through the expansions which he spearheaded. Gov. Henry’s vision was plain and simple—expand the legality aspect of some of the games in the state. Instead of letting enterprises continue to conduct gaming activities which do not fall under the classification of those which are considered legal, the Governor opted to legalize these in order to benefit from the operation of such activities. After all, these enterprises would still continue operating despite their illegal status. This way, the state gets something out of it and there would be no need for these gaming entities to continue their activities discreetly.

Gov. Henry himself apparently gambled on these proposed expansions; fortunately, it paid off. In the end, the state of Oklahoma was clearly the big winner in the governor’s series of gambling expansions. The benefits reaped included additional revenue funneled for services like education. The gaming expansions also saved the tourism industry in Oklahoma which was then struggling. Thanks to the policies adopted by the Governor, the tourism problem slowly becomes a thing of the past as people flock into the state, attracted by the new facilities brought about by the expansion. Added to these are the hundreds of jobs created by the policies adopted by the Governor.

The Governor’s gameplan had been to put gambling expansion proposals up on a referendum for residents to vote on. The Governor has also backed the tribe’s efforts to enter into a compact with the state. A compact would allow the tribes to construct class III casinos that would offer games that were previously not allowed. The tribes, in turn, would then be required to pay a fixed license fee, a percentage of the revenues they generate per mont or both, depending on the compact. Proposals for entering into compacts with specific tribes were put up on ballots for the residents of a specific area to decide on. Previously, the tribes were only allowed to run class II facilities which are limited in terms of the games they offer.

Despite his achievements, the Governor Henry has had his own share of critics throughout the years. Take for example former state Rep. Forrest Claunch who opposed and was totally against the concept and idea of these gaming expansions, raising the argument that it would cause serious social problems such as gambling addiction and could possibly lead to the commission of crimes. Several conservative groups also expressed their opposition to Henry’s plans.

Unrattled by such criticism, Gov. Henry, for his part, admitted the existence of the problem of gambling addiction but he maintained the same should not be singled out as it is also similar to other forms of addiction. Instead of pointing out the problem of addiction as a cause to cease gaming expansion, the Governor took the opportunity to use the series of gaming expansions to help deal with gambling addiction. Gov. Henry proposed that a portion of the Tribal Gaming Exclusivity fees be allotted and set aside to fund gambling addiction programs which admittedly could not gain any headway for lack of funding.

Nevertheless those opposed to the expansion policies stressed that the root of the problem should be eliminated rather than treating the addiction. Thus, to this end, Gov. Henry has stressed that programs should be more focused on gambling prevention, or simply explaining to the people that they should stop gambling, instead of formulating programs to treat their addiction.

Looking back, Gov. Henry believed he has accomplished a lot, saying that the Oklahoma today is a different one from what it was before he took office. “We’ve been able to create jobs, expand (health clinics) and build things like roads and bridges so it is unbelievable how much it affects our local communities,” he said. “Before (2004) we just had the bingo halls really, which were nothing in comparison.”