Oklahoma's casino-owning tribes would lose millions of dollars annually - along with an important bargaining chip - if proposed federal regulations on electronic bingo slot machines go into effect, according to a new study.

But forcing tribes to discard the bingo, or Class II, machines for Las Vegas-style, Class III devices will generate more money for state education, according to an article in the Oklahoman.

"I remain deeply concerned that there has not been sufficient consideration of the economic impacts of these proposed regulations," U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, wrote in a Dec. 20 letter, a copy of which was obtained by the newspaper.

The National Indian Gaming Commission wants to create a greater distinction between Class II games based on bingo and Class III, or Las Vegas-style slot machines. Technology has blurred the difference between the types.

The distinction is important because Class III devices required a tribal-state agreement, or compact, in which a state can collect a share of the revenue generated by the machines. Class II machines can be operated without a compact.

Tribal gaming experts believe most Class II machines would become illegal in 2013 if the new regulations, as proposed, take effect. Tribal leaders say they will continue to use devices in their casinos to guard against unreasonable compact demands by the various states.

Tribes have almost universally denounced the plan as an unfair imposition on their sovereignty.

Two Oklahoma congressmen seem to agree, according to their recent letters to the commission.

Boren in his letter said Indian gaming has an economic impact in Oklahoma "of hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars."

He urged the commission to shelve its plan "until such time as you have adequately consulted with all affected tribes."

Boren joined U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, in a second letter asking that the comment period be extended until June. However, a letter signed by 10 other congressmen urges "prompt adoption" of the proposed rules, according to the Oklahoman.

Both Boren and Cole are on the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees Indian gaming.

Oklahoma tribes own more than half of the 160 Class II gaming locations in the United States, economist Alan Meister reported in a study prepared for the Indian gaming commission.

The 30,044 Class II machines in Oklahoma at the end of 2006 represented 59 percent of all such machines in the country.

In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved compacts allowing tribes to offer modified Class III slot machines. In return, tribes must pay the state 4 percent to 6 percent of the revenue. That money goes to fund teacher pay raises and other education programs. Tribes paid the state $54.5 million from Class III machine revenue in 2007, according to the Office of State Finance.

Most state tribal casinos have incorporated Class III games, and a few have moved solely to compacted machines. However, Class II machines still comprise a large majority of the games available in Oklahoma, Meister reported.

Meister said the proposed Class II restrictions would force tribes to use only compacted machines by 2013.

If that happens, Oklahoma tribes would have to pay the state an estimated $122.3 million a year in revenue-sharing costs, Meister reported.

Meister said tribes also would lose the leverage the existing Class II machines provide when negotiating revenue-sharing compacts with states for Class III gaming.

Oklahoma's current tribal gaming compacts expire in 2020.

The proposed Class II regulations will make games slower and less attractive to many gamblers, Meister reported. That could force some marginal casinos to close unless they can offer a Class III alternative, he said.

Nationwide, Meister's study predicts a 42 percent decrease in Class II revenue, or $1.2 billion less in gaming revenue and $127 million in non-gaming revenue.

-- Staff report