July 16, 2001
From Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America.
TRIBAL NON-TAX AND SPEND

Under current campaign finance law, Indian Tribes are considered a "person" rather than a corporation, but are not a "individual". Thus, they MAY make campaign contributions, but are not subject to the $25,000 limit on total campaign contributions. The campaign finance bill that was before the House of Representatives last week would have made the matter worse: doubling the allowed contribution per candidate from $1,000 to $2,000, without closing the tribal loophole, would have meant even more tribal casino profits and proceeds from non-taxed gasoline and cigarette sales could be plowed back into electing sympathetic Congressmen and Senators.. An amendment offered by Rep. Simmons (PCT) to close that loophole was blocked by the Republican-controlled Rules Committee. As a result, SIGMA joined with NACS and PMAA in sending a letter urging that the rule allowing for debate of campaign finance reform be defeated. NACS was the leader in this effort. Both NACS and PMAA do ratings of Congressmen's voting records, and both indicated this would be a "key vote" used in their ratings - a move that angered some of the industry's allies in Congress, but clearly made the point about how strongly we feel about the issue. We don't want to sound like the rooster taking credit for the sun rising, as many other more-powerful forces were in play, but the rule WAS defeated, and our position couldn't have done anything but help in that outcome. We are hopeful that, when campaign finance reform comes up again (if it does), the tribal loophole will be closed.