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A proposed Spokane Tribe of Indians gambling agreement is unfair to other tribes and represents a major expansion of tribal gaming, skeptical legislators said. The Eastern Washington tribe is asking the state and federal government to end more than a decade of legal challenges and approve the gaming compact, which would make the Spokanes one of the state's largest casino operators. Tribal secretary Gerald Nicodemus told lawmakers Tuesday the agreement allowing as many as 4,700 slot-style machines at five sites would be a good deal for both the tribe and region. "This compact will be our best chance to impact our tribe's future in a significant and historic way," Nicodemus told House and Senate members on Tuesday. The state gambling commission has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed agreement Feb. 9 in Olympia. The compact needs approval of the commission, Gov. Chris Gregoire and the federal government. Lawmakers said the proposal would be a dramatic expansion of the $1.2 billion Indian gaming industry in the state. The Spokane tribe is the only gambling tribe that has not negotiated an agreement with the state. State and federal officials contend Nevada-style slot machines in the tribe's casinos are illegal. The proposed compact "rewards illegal operations and encourages a tremendous expansion of gambling," Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, said. Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, predicted that many of the 27 tribes that have gaming compacts with the state will oppose the Spokanes' compact. "I think they'll be really angry, because they are now," she said. The plan is a sign of a "new and positive relationship" between the state and tribe, Nicodemus said. Casino revenues would pay for better education for the tribe's children, better health care for its elders and a diversified reservation economy, he said. Current law allows each tribe to have a total of 675 slot-style machines. Larger tribes can increase that number by leasing machines from smaller tribes. The proposed Spokane Tribe compact, in the works since 2005, would allow as many as 4,700 machines and includes benefits other tribes haven't gotten in their negotiations. It would allow cash-fed machines, instead of requiring players to use paper tickets or plastic cards. It also would allow high-stakes betting at limits set by the tribe. "I can hear it coming: 'Look what you did for the Spokanes,'" said Sen. Jim Clements, R-Selah, whose district includes the Yakama Tribe. Prentice said she doesn't like the high-rollers provision.

"It's still real troublesome that you can leapfrog over (the other tribes) and have a real juicy plum that other tribes don't have," she said.

In 2004, state voters overwhelmingly rejected an initiative that would have allowed slot-style machines in nontribal businesses like card rooms and bars.

The current proposal is the second try at a compact between the state and tribe in recent years.

In 2005, negotiators reached an agreement that would have allowed up to 7,500 machines, including 4,000 in a single casino. But Gregoire ordered that version scrapped after some lawmakers balked.