According to Congress, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was created in 1988 to help tribes fall below the poverty level. The goal of IGRA is to use gaming as a means to “[promote] tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal government,” while ensuring that gaming is conducted fairly and honestly. Since its creation, hundreds of tribes have successfully negotiated an agreement with governments to operate casinos on reservation lands (“Gaming Tax Law and Bank Secrecy Act Issues for Indian Tribal Government”). Although Congress claims that the true purpose of IGRA is to allow Indians to open casinos, it is simply a set of laws that limit the tribe's right to gambling. Views on IGRA differ between Native Americans and non-Natives. For many Americans, IGRA is a compromise between the U.S. government and tribal government because it allows tribes to support themselves while meeting Congress's intent to create more jobs to control related crimes to poverty. According to a survey conducted by the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) in 2006, up to 75% of Americans believe that Indians benefit from gaming (The Economic Impact of Indian Gaming in 2006). “The Indian National Gaming Commission (NIGC) reported that the Indian gaming industry generated $16.7 billion in revenue in 2003” and created more than 550,000 jobs (Light and Rand, 85 ). Even if there is only a slight change in the number of crimes resulting from casinos, it is enough to conclude that "crime rates have declined, but not dramatically" (Light and Rand, 97). Rather, Native Americans believe these are "one-sided negotiations" that give the state and federal government power...... middle of paper ...... and the type of games that tribes can conduct, IGRA also established a rule for how tribes must use their gaming profits. Tribes can only spend gaming revenue for five general purposes: to fund tribal government services, operations and programs , promote the general welfare of the tribe, promote tribal economic development, make charitable donations, and help fund local government agencies (The Economic Impact of Indian Games in 2006). They are also required to pay taxes as a condition of the tribal-state compact. Most payouts are based on percentage of gaming revenue. As of 2003, California tribes pay between zero and 13 percent of slot machine revenue depending on the number of slot machines. In New York, tribes start paying at 18 percent and have increased to 25 percent in just seven years. In 2003, tribes paid a total of about $759 million to state and local governments.