Tribal Nations Hurting From Gaming ShutdownTwo-Thirds Of Tribal Community Have Lost Work In Wake Of Pandemic |
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All gaming companies are taking a hit to their revenues during the coronavirus-induced gaming shutdown, but Tribal nations are getting hit especially hard.
According to a New York Times report, tribal communities are experiencing extreme unemployment, revenue shortfalls and even a higher death rate from the virus than the rest of the country.
Bryan Newland, the tribal chairman of the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan, told the nationally renowned newspaper that he estimated about two-thirds of tribal employees were out of work. A study from Meister Economic Consulting, 700,000 tribal casino employees were out of work following the shutdown.
When the shutdowns first began, the American Gaming Association estimated that 1.8 million casino workers, from both commercial and tribal casinos, would lose their jobs. Newland doesn’t believe that it is going to change this year.
“We’re just going to write off 2020,” Newland told the New York Times. “There’s no sense in trying to work under the delusion that we’ll be able to claw back to normal life this year.”
The high unemployment comes with reduced revenue for tribal communities. Those communities rely on casino revenue to provide basic services for its people. Of the 574 federally recognized tribes, 40 percent own and operate casinos.
In response, President Trump tweaked the requirements for the Paycheck Protection Program at the end of April, allowing small casinos to apply for PPP funds.
The lost gaming revenue, however, could be used to help provide better health care to its citizens as the virus has affected native tribes disproportionately. The Navajo Nation, for example, has a higher death rate from COVID-19 than any U.S. state besides New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Those budget shortfalls from tribal communities have impacts on government budgets as well. Last year, tribal gaming revenue was worth $17.7 billion in U.S. tax revenue at the state, local and federal levels.
Gaming entities will slowly start to open in the coming weeks. At the time of writing, there are 20 casinos open for business and nine of them are owned by tribal nations.
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