Indian gaming in California is like an out-of-control freight
train. State delegates to the Republican National Convention in New
York City discovered as much when they were presented with tote
bags promoting a ballot measure to expand tribal casinos, already a
$6 billion-a-year industry in California.
Indian gaming in California is like an out-of-control freight train. State delegates to the Republican National Convention in New York City discovered as much when they were presented with tote bags promoting a ballot measure to expand tribal casinos, already a $6 billion-a-year industry in California.
Passage of Proposition 70, sponsored by the powerful Agua Caliente Indian band of Palm Springs, would enable tribes to sign 99-year compacts authorizing unlimited gambling if they agreed to pay the state 8.84 percent of their profits in corporate income taxes.
The state Republican Party and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger oppose the measure, and with good reason. For starters, it would void the compacts that the Schwarzenegger administration has negotiated. Opponents also fear the ominous consequences of state government becoming dependent on gaming revenues.
Even so, the tribes have been adept at getting what they want from voters and lawmakers. Gaming proponents nearly pulled off a mega-casino in the Bay Area. The shaky deal brokered by Schwarzenegger fell apart in the wake of a withering attack by critics who correctly cited its many flaws.
The other four tribal pacts the governor negotiated gained last-minute legislative approval late last week. The accords should have been held over until next year when there would be time for greater deliberation. That wasn’t in the cards, given the political clout tribes wield.
One of the pacts in eastern San Diego County could prove to be even bigger and more problematic than the proposed gaming complex in San Pablo.
The planned joint venture on the Viejas reservation would feature side-by-side casinos with slot machines numbering in the thousands.
The San Pablo deal crumbled because of the proposed casino’s proximity to Interstate 80, one of the nation’s busiest freeways. Yet the Viejas-Ewiiaapaayp complex will be close by I-8, which is becoming more and more congested as East County’s population grows. Meanwhile that gaming freight train just keeps on rolling.
-San Diego Union-Tribune
