CNIGA Urges Senate Leadership Not to Advance CLARITY Act Without Tribal Sovereignty Protections

Press Release
For Immediate Release

Contact: James May
(916) 754-7540
[email protected]

CNIGA Urges Senate Leadership Not to Advance CLARITY Act Without Tribal Sovereignty Protections

Urges Senate to close the prediction market gambling loophole and preserve Tribal, state, and federal gaming law

September 9, 2026

Sacramento, CA -The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) today sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urging Senate leadership not to bring the CLARITY Act to the Senate floor unless it explicitly closes the prediction market gambling loophole and preserves federal, state, and Tribal gaming law.

In the letter, CNIGA Chairman James Siva warns that prediction market operators are attempting to use federal commodities law to offer nationwide gambling in a way that bypasses the regulatory framework Congress established through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and longstanding state and Tribal gaming laws.

"Congress built a carefully negotiated federal, state, and Tribal framework for gaming. Prediction market companies want none of that. But just because you're well funded, it doesn't mean the rules don't apply," said CNIGA Chairman James Siva. "The Senate should not advance the CLARITY Act unless it explicitly preserves Tribal sovereignty and prevents federal commodities law from being used to bypass state and Tribal gaming laws."

The association calls on Senate leadership to ensure any digital asset market structure legislation:
● Prohibits designated commodity markets from listing event contracts involving sports wagering, athletic competitions, player performance, casino-style gaming, or other activities regulated under federal, state, or Tribal gaming law;
● Explicitly preserves the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Tribal-state compacts, and state and Tribal gaming laws; and
● Prevents digital asset and decentralized finance provisions from being used as a backdoor for nationwide mobile gambling.

CNIGA concludes that the Senate should not advance or pass the CLARITY Act unless those protections are explicitly included.

The full text of Chairman Siva's letter follows.

Letter to Senate Leadership
September 9, 2026
The Honorable John Thune Majority Leader United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Chuck Schumer Democratic Leader United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Majority Leader Thune and Democratic Leader Schumer:

As Senate leadership considers whether and how to advance the CLARITY Act, the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) urges you not to bring the bill to the floor unless it explicitly closes the prediction market gambling loophole and preserves federal, state, and Tribal gaming law.

This issue cannot be left to regulators, future litigation, or ambiguous statutory language. Prediction market companies are already moving aggressively to use federal commodities law to offer sports wagering nationwide while avoiding the laws that have governed lawful gaming for decades.

Put simply: sports event contracts are sports betting. Calling them "prediction markets" or "event contracts" does not change what they are in practice.

Kalshi, Polymarket, and other prediction market operators are attempting to use the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's authority as a substitute for the state and Tribal regulatory systems that govern legal gaming. Under their theory, a federal commodities regulator could effectively authorize sports betting nationwide without state licenses, Tribal compacts, gaming taxes, age verification, geolocation, responsible-gaming requirements, integrity protections, or the regulatory accountability expected of lawful gaming operators.

That directly threatens Tribal sovereignty and undermines the framework Congress established through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. While we sympathize with our commercial gaming partners, it is critical that Congress acknowledge that Tribal gaming is different. It is a core expression of self-governance and the critical source of funding for the health care, education, housing, public safety, infrastructure, elder services, cultural preservation, and other essential government services promised in exchange for the lands we lost. Without gaming, many Tribal nations would lack the resources to support our people and once again become dependent on federal resources to fulfill the treaty and trust obligations.

The CLARITY Act must make clear that the CFTC cannot allow gaming to occur through prediction markets. At a minimum, any digital asset market structure legislation must include enforceable language that:
● Prohibits the listing of event contracts involving sports wagering, athletic competitions, player performance, casino-style gaming, or other activities traditionally regulated under federal, state, or Tribal gaming laws on Designated Contract Markets;
● Makes clear that nothing in the Act preempts, limits, weakens, supersedes, or otherwise affects the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Tribal-state compacts, state gaming laws, or Tribal gaming laws; and
● Prevents digital asset, decentralized finance, exchange, software, or protocol provisions from being used as a backdoor for nationwide mobile gambling.

Congress built a carefully negotiated federal, state, and Tribal framework for gaming. Prediction market companies should not be allowed to use commodities law or digital asset legislation to build an entirely different system outside that framework.

CNIGA urges Senate leadership not to advance or pass the CLARITY Act unless these protections are included. If the bill does not explicitly preserve Tribal sovereignty and prevent federal commodities law from being used to bypass state and Tribal gaming laws, senators should oppose it.

Sincerely,
James Siva Chairman California Nations Indian Gaming Association

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