New Act Harmonizes Tribal Gaming Rules for Two Texas Tribes After 2022 Supreme Court Ruling

If you’ve ever had to deal with two different government departments telling you two different things about the same permit, you know how frustrating regulatory overlap can be. The Tribal Gaming Regulatory Compliance Act is essentially a clean-up bill designed to fix exactly that kind of mess for two specific groups: the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.

The Problem: Too Many Rulebooks

This bill (Sec. 2) stems from a legal tangle created after a June 2022 Supreme Court decision. For decades, most Tribal gaming across the U.S. has been governed by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which allows Tribes to run gaming operations if the state already allows similar activities. This structure was meant to foster Tribal economic self-sufficiency. However, the two Texas Tribes mentioned above were also subject to the Texas Restoration Act, which created a confusing, overlapping set of rules.

Imagine trying to run a business where the federal government says one thing about your operations, and a state-related law says another. That was the reality for these Tribes. They were caught between the standard federal IGRA system and a separate, more restrictive framework related to Texas state law.

The Fix: One Rule to Rule Them All

The entire purpose of this new Act is to simplify things. Section 3 amends the law that originally restored federal recognition to these two Tribes. It makes clear that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) will apply fully and exclusively to any gaming activities on their lands. In practical terms, this means the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe will now operate under the exact same regulatory framework as the hundreds of other Tribes across the country that run gaming operations.

For the Tribes, this regulatory clarity is huge. It removes a major source of legal uncertainty and potential conflict, allowing them to focus on the economic benefits of gaming without having to constantly navigate two conflicting legal standards. The bill also cleans up the statute by removing two specific sections, Section 107 and Section 207, which are now deemed obsolete given the shift to full IGRA application.

Who Feels the Change?

This is a highly targeted bill. The primary beneficiaries are clearly the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe. For them, the bill means regulatory parity and stability, which supports their goal of economic development. While the State of Texas previously had a unique, overlapping regulatory authority over these specific gaming activities, this Act effectively standardizes the federal approach, bringing these two Tribes fully into the IGRA fold like everyone else. Ultimately, this bill is a technical but necessary measure to clean up a specific legal anomaly, ensuring that federal law is applied consistently across Tribal lands.