OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) has reached a tentative agreement with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians on an amendment to its Class III gaming compact. The proposed seventh amendment is a restatement of its original Compact that was signed in 1996, incorporating amendments 1 through 6.
Washington State Gambling Commission Chairperson Alicia Levy said of the tentative compact amendment: “We had a shared interest in producing a well written amended and restate compact that resulted in some new and innovative approaches that will set the stage for other tribal-state negotiations into the future.”
Puyallup Tribal Chairman Sterud said of the tentative compact amendment: “I would like to thank the Washington State Gambling Commission and its team for conducting these negotiations with professionalism and respect for our sovereign rights. For almost 30 years, the Puyallup Tribe and the State of Washington have worked side by side to ensure that tribal gaming operates with the highest standards of safety and accountability. This new agreement will allow the Puyallup Tribe to continue to be a major economic engine for our wider region—creating family-wage jobs; supporting local, state, and national businesses; and generating vital revenue that we invest directly into health care, education, housing, and social services that uplift every member of our Tribe and strengthen the surrounding community.”
Below is a summary of the major changes in the proposed amendment that includes some provisions that already exist in other tribal compacts, replaces contributions with updated provisions, and adds new provisions that don’t exist in other tribes’ compacts (full amendment attached).
- Adds a framework for electronic table games at the Tribe’s gaming facility consistent with other tribal compacts.
- Adds extension of credit consistent with other tribal compacts.
- Removes per facility limits consistent with other tribal compacts.
- Allows $30 wagers on tribal lottery system player terminals consistent with other tribal compacts.
- Allows table games in operation to offer up to $1,000 wagers and limited tables can offer up to $5,000 wagers after customer screening.
- Provides an option for additional 1,000 player terminals to be added to the Tribe’s allocation and total operating ceiling, in a stepped approach.
- Creates a new appendix that includes all Tribal licensing and State background provisions and authorizes eligibility & registration.
- Creates a definition appendix that includes defined terms used in the Compact and Appendices.
- Clarifies the Tribe’s commitment to the community through support to emergency service, government, and non-profit/charitable organizations.
- Adds a non-smoking room requirement if smoking is allowed in the gaming facility.
- Enhances responsible gaming provisions on training, self-exclusion, responsible gaming signage and posting, and self-imposed limits.
Next Steps:
- Formal notification about the proposed compact amendment was conveyed to the Governor, Legislature and others.
- The Senate Business, Financial Services & Trade Committee and the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee will hold public hearings.
- The Gambling Commission will vote at its public meeting on August 14, 2025, and decide whether or not to forward the proposed compact amendment to the Governor.
- If the Commission votes to forward the Tribe’s amendment, it will be sent to the Tribal Chair for final consideration and signature.
- Once the Tribal Chair signs the amendment, it will be sent to the Governor for final consideration and signature.
- After obtaining the signatures of the Tribal Chair and the Governor, the Tribe will send the amendment to the Secretary of the United States Department of Interior for consideration, signature and publication in the Federal Register.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 provides that Indian tribes may conduct Class III gaming activities on Indian lands when the gaming is conducted in conformance with a tribal-state compact. RCW 9.46.360 provides that the Gambling Commission negotiate those compacts on behalf of the state. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ tribal-state compact for Class III gaming was originally signed on May 28, 1996, and this is the seventh amendment. Public comments regarding this compact amendment may be submitted to compactcomments@wsgc.wa.gov.