Sunday, May 6, 2007
Call the casinos' bluff
PERHAPS YOU'VE seen the new 60-second TV spots: a bald eagle soars, a narrator talks about the jobs and opportunity that casinos have brought to California and the additional benefits that new agreements reached with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would bring to the state. "Don't let special interests stand in the way," the narrator implores.
PERHAPS YOU'VE seen the new 60-second TV spots: a bald eagle soars, a narrator talks about the jobs and opportunity that casinos have brought to California and the additional benefits that new agreements reached with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would bring to the state. "Don't let special interests stand in the way," the narrator implores.
Behind those soft-focus ads is a brutal bottom line: The ad is being bankrolled by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, owner of a thriving casino, resort and spa in Riverside County, as part of a $20 million effort by the state's wealthiest tribes to persuade state legislators to expand their operations by 22,500 slot machines while subjecting them to far less stringent regulations than the governor demanded of less powerful tribes.
Schwarzenegger reached these 30-year agreements with the tribes just before his re-election. They're horrible deals for the state. The shortcomings include weak labor and environmental protections and an absence of industry-standard inspections on the efficacy and integrity of the slots. They allow the tribes themselves -- instead of an independent auditor -- to determine the amount of net winnings that would be subject to revenue sharing with the state.
The Senate went along with these compacts; it will take an act of great political courage for the Assembly to reject ratification of the compacts. The pressure is on -- and intensifying -- in the form of TV spots and direct mail.
"It's an unprecedented campaign," said Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, who is raising all the right concerns. "It seems like they're trying to bully us. We're not going to be bullied."
It's time for all who are concerned about an expansion of California casinos to a Las Vegas scale -- without the level of regulation in Nevada -- to make their voices heard.
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