Group pushes for legalised gambling in South Carolina

An independent group is pushing to discuss legalised casino gambling and other verticals in South Carolina and is holding meetings to assess them.

US.- The gaming industry continuously evolves in the US and gambling may expand in South Carolina. An independent group is pushing for meetings to investigate the potential impact of an expanded offering.

The Palmetto Forum for Gaming Studies organised several statewide meetings for the first time. They conducted such events as researchers look into legalised casinos and other forms of gambling.

“Most people felt that some of that revenue should be earmarked for the local community and shouldn’t all go to the state,” said Jim Rex, co-chair of the organisation. “It probably harkens back to your experiences with hospitality taxes down here.”

Tribal push

The Catawba Indian Nation has been trying to build a casino for quite some time, but for multiple reasons it never managed to obtain the necessary permissions. Now, the tribe wants to build a casino west of Charlotte, North Carolina, which would create problems with another tribe in the neighbouring state.

The Catawba are based in South Carolina, and the tribe’s reservation includes two small parcels, but they claim that the federal law extends their territory into some parts of North Carolina.

Senator Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina politician, is currently sponsoring a bill in Congress that would help the Catawba with the desired casino. However, 38 North Carolina senators sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee and urged them to reject the proposal. “This unprecedented legislation … is a last-ditch effort to game the system on a flawed application,” the letter reads.

The letter also details that the Catawba have failed to get approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the casino and are making whatever they can to get the casino. It also says that a casino near Charlotte would affect the Eastern Band of the Cherokees, the tribe that manages casinos in North Carolina.