04.19.07, 4:18 PM ET
Calif. Senate OKs Gambling Expansion
By AARON C. DAVIS
The California Senate on Thursday approved the largest-ever expansion of Indian gambling in the state.
If passed by the Assembly, the agreements would allow tribes to operate an additional 22,500 slot machines, the equivalent of more than 10 Las Vegas-sized casinos. It would represent a 50 percent increase in the number of slots operating in the state's Indian casinos.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who negotiated the agreements with the tribes last year, is counting on the Legislature to approve the pacts by mid-May to help balance his spending plan for the budget year that begins in July.
He is relying on tribes installing thousands of the slot machines within months and beginning to pay the state $500 million annually in casino winnings to close the state's chronic budget deficit. The state's nonpartisan budget analyst has said such expectations are unrealistic and projects less than half that amount coming to the state during the first few years.
The compacts approved Thursday are for five Southern California tribes that already have casinos and one tribe in far Northern California that has tried for years to get state authorization for a gambling hall.
The deals allow the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to more than double - from 2,000 to 5,000 - the total number of slot machines and other games it operates at its two casinos in Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) Springs and Rancho Mirage.
The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego also would be allowed to increase the number of machines it operates from 2,000 to 5,000. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians northwest of Palm Springs, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians in Temecula and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in San Bernardino would be allowed to more than triple - to 7,500 - the number of slot machines they operate.
In exchange, the state expects to collect billions of dollars over the compacts' 30-year span.
The Senate also approved a much smaller gambling agreement with the Yurok Indians, a 5,000-member tribe that is the state's largest but also among its poorest. The Yuroks will be allowed to install up to 99 slot machines at their reservation near Klamath in Del Norte County, most of which lacks electricity.
Compacts similar to those approved Thursday never made it out of the Legislature last year, in large part because of objections from labor groups.
In asking her colleagues to support the casino expansions, Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, stressed that the agreements contained the same labor protections included in the original compacts negotiated by former Gov. Gray Davis.
They also require tribes to work more closely with local governments to offset the effects of increased traffic and other problems caused by casino expansions, said Ducheny, who carried the Morongo and Sycuan bills.
Her comments were a nod to unions, which have opposed the agreements. They say the deals roll back important advances for labor that Schwarzenegger included when he signed other agreements with tribes in 2004. Unions say those provisions made it easier for casino workers to organize.
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, cited the labor issues and gambling's larger toll on society in urging lawmakers to vote against the bills. She said Indian gambling in the state had grown beyond what voters intended.
"Gambling is never a good thing for a state or a nation. It eats away; it's an addiction," Kuehl said. "But we compromised and said this was going to help these poor tribes get on their feet. Well, they're so on their feet now they're getting billions of dollars a year. I say, 'good for them,' but I can't vote for an expansion of gambling."
Indian gambling has grown to a $7 billion-a-year industry in California and has allowed tribes to become one of the most influential forces in state politics. An Associated Press review last week found that tribes had donated $1.6 million to the Democratic lawmakers who carried this year's casino-expansion bills.
In a statement, Schwarzenegger praised the Senate for passing the agreements.
"I believe these compacts are good for the state, the tribes and the local communities," Schwarzenegger said, urging the Assembly to quickly adopt them.
"Every additional day of delay costs the state millions of dollars for critical services that Californians rely upon," he said.
Schwarzenegger has said he will not accept tribal money.
Robert Martin, chairman of the Morongo Indians, said the tribe would be able to quickly increase its gambling operation to about 5,000 of the 7,500 slot machines it would be entitled to under the compacts.
"I'm comfortable with our market and think we can do that right away," he said.
The fate of the compacts in the Assembly, however, is uncertain.
Last fall, the Agua Caliente expansion was the only one the Assembly's labor-friendly Democratic majority brought to a vote. The rest were never considered.
While some lawmakers have threatened to tie up the compacts in committee hearings, others have said recent federal court decisions regarding casino labor issues may give the Assembly cover to approve them.
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