Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t be pleased that Detroit casino syndicators Barwest LLC -- and their tribal partners the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians – have aligned themselves with (& committed resources to) Labor and other special interests working aggressively to block ratification of expanded gaming compacts the Governor re-negotiated last summer with five of California’s most successful gaming tribes.
The State Senate approved the expanded gaming agreements this week despite the tremendous effort waged by Labor, Barwest and others. Now the matter goes to the Assembly where Labor, along with Barwest and other special interests have vowed to commit whatever resources are needed in a final showdown, a last stand against the established tribes.
While the Governor and Indian leaders got off to a rocky start following his election in 2003; last year the parties made attempts to bridge that gap. After meetings with tribal leaders to identify common ground throughout his first term, and with California facing serious state budget shortfalls; Governor Schwarzenegger re-negotiated agreements for expanded gaming with five of California’s more established gaming tribes last summer. Collectively those agreements are expected to yield $500 million annually in new revenues for the state.
Since last summer, Barwest spokespersons and lobbyists have bragged that they helped block ratification of the re-negotiated agreements for expanded gaming last August. They indicate it was their way of getting back at the established gaming tribes and establishing "parity" (creating leverage) with those tribes.
Certainly the Governor, if it had been important to him, had the ability to create "parity" or leverage with the established tribes last summer by insisting those tribes back off their opposition to (or even announce support for) the Barwest agreements (compacts with Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes), but he didn’t. Apparently that was never part of discussions between the established tribes and the Governor.
Unable to win ratification of their gaming agreements in 2005/06, Barwest and company failed the Governor; and now the parties behind Barwest have aligned themselves with the Governator's #1 adversary, Organized Labor, to block one of the Schwarzenegger's top policy priorities this session.
Could it be as TheVerifiableTruth.com has suggested before that Barwest mislead the Governor's team in their original compact negotiations; and subsequently the Governor realized that? Or is this just a case of trade-odds, requiring the Governor to choose among priorities?
The State Senate approved the expanded gaming agreements this week despite the tremendous effort waged by Labor, Barwest and others. Now the matter goes to the Assembly where Labor, along with Barwest and other special interests have vowed to commit whatever resources are needed in a final showdown, a last stand against the established tribes.
While the Governor and Indian leaders got off to a rocky start following his election in 2003; last year the parties made attempts to bridge that gap. After meetings with tribal leaders to identify common ground throughout his first term, and with California facing serious state budget shortfalls; Governor Schwarzenegger re-negotiated agreements for expanded gaming with five of California’s more established gaming tribes last summer. Collectively those agreements are expected to yield $500 million annually in new revenues for the state.
Since last summer, Barwest spokespersons and lobbyists have bragged that they helped block ratification of the re-negotiated agreements for expanded gaming last August. They indicate it was their way of getting back at the established gaming tribes and establishing "parity" (creating leverage) with those tribes.
Certainly the Governor, if it had been important to him, had the ability to create "parity" or leverage with the established tribes last summer by insisting those tribes back off their opposition to (or even announce support for) the Barwest agreements (compacts with Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes), but he didn’t. Apparently that was never part of discussions between the established tribes and the Governor.
Unable to win ratification of their gaming agreements in 2005/06, Barwest and company failed the Governor; and now the parties behind Barwest have aligned themselves with the Governator's #1 adversary, Organized Labor, to block one of the Schwarzenegger's top policy priorities this session.
Could it be as TheVerifiableTruth.com has suggested before that Barwest mislead the Governor's team in their original compact negotiations; and subsequently the Governor realized that? Or is this just a case of trade-odds, requiring the Governor to choose among priorities?
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