A recently passed law amendment prohibits Osage Nation board members and business entities they own from contracting with the board they sit on for goods and services.
The Eighth ON Congress voted 11-0 during the 2023 Hun-Kah Session to pass bill ONCA 23-50 (sponsored by Congressman Eli Potts) that amends both the Nation’s Boards Act and Gaming Reform Act “to prohibit Board members and the business entities they own or partially own from contracting with the Board on which they sit for goods or services.”
During the session, the bill received initial consideration during a Congressional Commerce, Gaming and Land Committee meeting on April 12. Potts said the same language is inserted into the two laws and “makes it clear… board members and the business entities they own or partially own are prohibited from contracting with the board on which they sit for goods and services.”
In addition, the law amendments also include the new mandate that: “Boards are prohibited from donating, sponsoring or contributing philanthropically with money, goods or services to any entity owned or partially owned by a board member, or to any entity with which a board member is affiliated.”
Congressman Billy Keene said “I think this is a really good step in the right direction and I’m happy to support this. It’s been a long time coming and I think it’s good that Congressman Potts brought this forward.”
Consideration of ONCA 23-50 comes in wake of the Congressional Commerce, Gaming and Land Committee’s investigation into Osage Casinos management expense activities, which included February 2023 public hearings with casino management, as well as current and former Gaming Enterprise Board members interviewed. During the hearings, questions focused on the board’s duties and practices, including a $130,000 sponsorship to an organization that GEB Chair Geoff Hager was involved with. Hager, who did not participate in the gaming board vote to approve the sponsorship, discussed with the board the group Young Presidents Organization, of which he was the Tulsa chapter chair at the time.
During the hearing interview with Hager, Congresswoman Brandy Lemon said she viewed the YPO sponsorship situation and Hager’s YPO affiliation as a conflict of interest. “We have to be very careful in what we choose to donate to and I support this 100%,” she said during the committee hearing on ONCA 23-50.
On April 17, ONCA 23-50 passed with 11 “yes” votes and one absence from Congressman John Maker. Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear signed the bill into law afterward.
