Reasons to VOTE NO to Choctaw Casino

Before they can build the proposed casino, the Mississippi Band of Choctaws will have to gain approval from two government bodies, the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Mississippi governor's office said Jason Giles, lead attorney with the National Indian Gaming Association.

Approval from either body is not assured, he said, particularly since the proposed casino is not on land within the original Choctaws' reservation.

The proposed Jackson County site is more than 200 miles away from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian's Reservation in Choctaw, Miss.

Dan M. McDaniel, a leading authority on gaming law, said the compact signed in the 1980s that allowed the Choctaws to build a casino near Philadelphia will not allow them to build in Jackson County. To build a casino near Ocean Springs, the Choctaws and Mississippi will have to renegotiate the compact.

National law prevents states from taxing Indian reservations, since the reservations are considered sovereign nations independent of the United States, he said governors are asking for payments for services of 25 percent or more of gaming revenues.

• Impact a casino would have on the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge at that location.
• Impact a casino would have on flooding of adjacent homes if built at that location.
• Impact on traffic.
• Proximity to schools, Jackson County Soccer Field, and the proposed Ocean Springs Sports Complex.
• Increase in drunk driving.
• A Choctaw casino would not be TAXED.
• The proposed casino would not be on land within the original Choctaws' reservation.