Gambling expansion in Calif. weighed
Tribes want twice as many slots
SACRAMENTO -- Caught between the competing demands of politically powerful Indian tribes and labor unions, California lawmakers return from spring recess this week to weigh a major gambling expansion.
Whether they approve or reject compacts that could double the number of slot machines, their decision will have far-reaching implications for the state and possibly for their own political futures.
Five southern California tribes have struck deals with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that could increase their slot machines from 10,000 to 22,500 if the Legislature concurs.
In exchange, the tribes would give the state a share of their profits. The agreements would set the stage for casinos with twice as many slots as the biggest in Las Vegas.
The accords are expected to clear the Senate with the encouragement of President pro Tem Don Perata, Democrat of Oakland, whose political accounts have taken in nearly $1 million from casino-owning tribes over the past two years.
But many members of the Assembly say they are troubled by details in the pacts that govern worker unionization and by the lack of a requirement that casino profits be audited independently.
The objections are from Democrats, who have been the main beneficiaries of campaign cash from unions and tribes. Unions have made scuttling the compacts a top priority, and lawmakers' actions could antagonize either group.
The growth of a tribal gambling industry estimated to reap $7 billion a year is at stake. More than 58,000 slot machines are operated in California by 54 tribes.
"This would be probably one of the largest expansions of Las Vegas-style gambling anywhere in the world -- thousands of additional machines," said Assemblyman Mark Leno, Democrat of San Francisco, "and one has to ask whether this is what Californians had in mind when they voted to approve this kind of gambling."
The Senate will take up the compacts, which the Legislature does not have the authority to amend, this week.
Schwarzenegger, who campaigned for governor on a promise to get a "fair share" of tribal gambling money for the state, negotiated the deals last summer as he ran for reelection. The Legislature declined to act on the agreements before adjourning in August.
The tribes involved are the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which owns two casinos in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage; the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians near Palm Springs; the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians in Temecula; the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in San Bernardino; and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego County. 