Gaming compact author weighs in on controversy
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — It was a key moment from the governor's press conference about the gaming compact: "This compact shall have a term which will expire on Jan 1, 2020."
It's a section of the law that Gov. Kevin Stitt emphasized to drive home termination.
"It does indeed say this 15-year compact expires, but..." says former state Sen. Cal Hobson, that's not the end of the story, and he should know since he wrote the bill.
"It was the hardest bill I ever authored by far, nothing's close," he said.
It was a legislative marathon, assembling a behemoth bill encompassing gaming, horse racing, and 39 tribes over a period of 24 months.
"Anybody that's been through the hell of doing this for two years, nobody wanted to re-enter this discussion lightly, and that’s why these words are in the compact," he said.
Words, he says, with the specific intent of keeping the compact alive, despite the Governor's assertion that it doesn't.
"I’m here to tell you, no contract auto-renews in perpetuity," said Stitt.
"So, it does automatically renew?" we asked Hobson. "Yes," he said.
"Even if there’s no immediate agreement on what the rates should be?" we asked. "Yes, that’s correct," he said.
And the only hurdle to whether or not it would renew, says Hobson, is whether or not race tracks are given the right to continue with electronic gaming.
"If the state allows those machines to continue, which we did several months ago at the racing commission, that automatically renews the next 15-year compact," said Hobson.
But from the governor's office on Thursday, "The position of the state is still that the compact expires."
"We do not want gaming to be illegal, and we do not want vendors to be operating illegally," said Stitt at the gaming compact press conference.
"He needs to understand this is not just another piece of legislation that he has to worry about, this is the most important issue that he will face in his first term in office, and so far, I think he’s dealt with it terribly," said Hobson.
