INDIAN GAMING ASSOCIATION 03-ANA-BOD-04-03-24
TITLE: Calling Upon the NIGC to Limit their Audits to Only IGRA Statutorily Authorized Audits of Net-Gaming Revenues and Not Specific Tribal General Welfare Programs WHEREAS , the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) is an intertribal association of 184 federally recognized Native Sovereign Nations established to support Indian gaming and defend Indian sovereignty; and WHEREAS , Native Sovereign Nations are sovereigns that pre-date the United States, with prior and treaty protected rights to self-government and to our Indian lands, and WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States, through the Treaty, Commerce, and Apportionment Clauses and the 14 th Amendment, recognizes the sovereign status of Indian Tribes as Native nations established prior to the United States; and WHEREAS , the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (the “IGRA”) acknowledged and confirmed the inherent sovereign powers of Native Sovereign Nations Governments; and WHEREAS , Native Sovereign Nations possess the inherent sovereignty and authority to establish and enforce laws to promote the general welfare, safety, and prosperity of their tribal members, and to preserve the cultural, social, and economic stability of their Native Sovereign Nations ; and WHEREAS , in affirmation of these intrinsic rights, the United States Congress, acting in respect of tribal self-determination and the unique government-to-government relationship with Native Sovereign Nations , enacted the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014, thereby confirming that general welfare benefits provided by Native Sovereign Nations to their members are excluded from taxation under federal law; and WHEREAS, federal law allows for the use of net tribal gaming revenue for the general welfare of a Tribal Nation’s members, and such revenues can further be directed to a qualified general welfare program in accordance with the Tribal General Welfare Exclusions Act of 2014; and WHEREAS, the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014 not only acknowledges the tax-free nature of tribal general welfare benefit payments but also mandates a temporary suspension of all audits and examinations of Native Sovereign Nations governments and their members until education and training for field agents on Federal Indian law is completed; and WHEREAS, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014 are two pivotal statutes that together orchestrate the legal framework governing the allocation and taxation of tribal gaming revenues; and WHEREAS, the IGRA expressly permits Native Sovereign Nations to utilize net gaming revenues for purposes that promote tribal economic development and public welfare, while the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014 ensures that general welfare benefits provided by Native Sovereign
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