COLUMBIA — The Catawba Indians could open a high-stakes bingo operation in Orangeburg County in exchange for giving up any rights to operate video gambling machines under a bill introduced Wednesday in the state Senate.

Previous attempts to let the tribe open a second bingo parlor have failed. Supporters said the bill’s chances are boosted by Judge Joseph Strickland’s ruling last year that the state’s 1993 land settlement with the tribe allows them to operate video poker on their reservation in York and Lancaster counties despite a statewide ban on the games.

Attorney General Henry McMaster has filed papers asking the state Supreme Court to freeze Strickland’s ruling until the justices can hear the case.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said opponents should be happy the Catawbas are willing to relinquish its video poker rights and dismiss its lawsuit. Hutto wants the jobs and tourists the electronic bingo operation could bring to an area where one out of every 10 people are out of work.

“I think the facts are on our side,” said sponsor Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman. “The question is whether they’re willing to trade.”

Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, a longtime opponent of any gambling expansion by the tribe, isn’t willing to compromise and thinks the courts will ultimately rule the Catawbas have no right to operate video poker.

“The law is clear. ... I’m 100 percent opposed to (the bill),” he said. “It won’t be an easy thing to block, but we’ve got a good chance.”

The tribe sued the state last July, saying it needed to open a video gambling parlor to recoup profits lost at its Rock Hill bingo hall when South Carolina began a statewide lottery in 2002.

The tribe’s leaders have decided to delay opening the video gambling parlor, hoping the General Assembly would instead allow the tribe to operate a new bingo hall off Interstate 95.

“When I hear people like Wes Hayes say in the appeal that the tribe is trying to use video poker as leverage to get a bingo game at Santee, in some sense that’s right,” said Jay Bender, the tribe’s attorney.

“By the same token,” Bender continued, “the tribe would prefer to do business where it’s welcome than engage in a constant battle with the authorities in York County who don’t think the tribe is entitled to any economic development.”

Matthews said he believes the bingo hall would improve the quality of life for everyone in Orangeburg County.

“It would be no expense to the state,” Hutto said. “We’re offering no incentives.”

But he said South Carolina would win through having hundreds more people employed and paying income taxes as well as giving tourists a reason to get off the interstate and spend money in the rural area.

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