VICE-CHAIRMAN’S REPORT DAVID Z BEAN Puyallup Tribe of Indians
Greetings from Anaheim and thank you for attending this year’s Conference and Tradeshow. I n just four short years, I have been elected and re-elected as your Vice-Chairman of the Indian Gaming Association and will have an election during this Tradeshow. To the IGA Membership, I am honored by your faith in electing me to fill the Vice- Chairman role and I have worked hard to represent Indian Country on behalf of the Association. When I started at this position the Biden Administration was new and we faced challenges in 2022 with a Democratic Senate and Republican House. It had been several election cycles since Indian Country was confronted with a split Government. I worked with IGA Tribal Membership and IGA Staff to make sure our presence was felt across Congress and the federal agencies. The unprecedented inclusion of Tribal Governments in the CHIPS Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act were successes that built on the pandemic funding when we were able to secure over $30 billion in direct Covid aid to Tribal Governments. For certain, Indian Country is still facing challenges at the Supreme Court and from Commercial Gaming interests trying to erode Tribal exclusivity in our state-tribal compacts. The Association is in a strong position to continue advocating on behalf of Indian Country and I hope to channel previous generations of Indian warriors who fought on behalf of Tribal Governments to keep the dreams of their people alive for generations to come.
8 INDIAN GAMING - ANNUAL REPORT 2023
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