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- The Indian Gaming Association is strongly urging the U.S. Senate to reject the CLARITY Act unless the legislation is amended to explicitly protect Tribal sovereignty and ensure continued Tribal and state control over gaming.
- The Association argues that the bill’s expansion of CFTC authority lacks necessary safeguards, potentially allowing prediction markets to offer sports betting and casino-style gambling that bypasses the regulations established under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
The Indian Gaming Association is urging the U.S. Senate to reject the CLARITY Act unless the bill is amended to explicitly protect Tribal sovereignty, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and Tribal and state control over gaming.
The group says the legislation, which is designed to set a regulatory framework for digital assets and clarify SEC and CFTC jurisdiction, could also create a pathway for prediction markets to offer sports betting and casino-style gambling outside existing Tribal and state gaming systems. That makes the bill relevant well beyond crypto policy, especially for Tribal governments that rely on gaming revenue to fund public services.
Association says revised bill language still falls short
According to the Association, Congress should amend the bill to bar sports betting and casino-style gambling through prediction markets and make clear that federal commodities law does not preempt Tribal, state, or federal gaming laws, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Association Chairman David Z. Bean said the current language remains unacceptable even after updates from Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
> “We want to make it absolutely clear that Indian Country is opposed to this version of the CLARITY Act,” Bean said.
He added that while the Association appreciates Lummis acknowledging concerns raised by Tribal Nations, “the proposed changes do not address the fundamental concerns of Indian Country.”
Bean also said the bill “does nothing to rein in the CFTC at a time when prediction market platforms are already offering gambling products that threaten Tribal and state gaming laws.”
Why the fight centers on prediction markets
The Association argues the bill would expand CFTC authority without clearly preserving Tribal and state gaming protections. In its view, that could let prediction-market operators use federal commodities law to expand gambling products while bypassing the regulatory systems that now govern sports betting and casino-style gaming.
Bean said Indian Country will continue to oppose the bill unless Congress expressly states that Tribal and state gaming laws are not preempted and that federally regulated prediction markets cannot offer sports betting or casino games.
He called passage without those protections “one of the greatest threats to Tribal sovereignty in a generation.”
The Association is also urging member Tribes and Tribal leaders to contact senators and oppose both cloture and final passage of the bill in its current form.
What happens next in the Senate
The immediate issue to watch is whether the Senate moves forward on cloture or a final vote on the CLARITY Act as currently written.
The source does not specify when such votes could occur. It also does not detail the exact text included in Lummis’s updated language, leaving open how the revised bill would interact with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act if enacted.
For now, the Association’s position is straightforward: no support for the CLARITY Act unless lawmakers add explicit protections for Tribal government gaming and block prediction markets from offering sports betting or casino-style products outside established gaming law.
Source: As reported by yahoo.com.
