Big tribes' pending compacts trouble some in Assembly

So far the survey I have conducted indicates the majority still support "Casino" as the City of Barstow's number one priority. I use a service which alerts me daily on "Indian gaming", locally and on the national level, so periodically an article will appear relating to casino issues in Barstow. Although, I will make every attempt to keep this site positive, occasionally I may relay important information to the community that is not positive news, but important to Barstow Citizens. I sincerely believe I have an obligation to present to you the facts and not mislead you. Joe

By James P. SweeneyCOPLEY NEWS SERVICE April 2, 2007 SACRAMENTO – Last summer, when lawmakers blocked new gambling agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars to five Southern California Indian tribes, the unexpected defeat was widely attributed to organized labor. But the Legislature's Democratic leaders said the complex agreements, or compacts, also had arrived simply too late to permit the careful review they deserved. In the months since, lawmakers have taken a closer look at the expansive deals, and some are troubled by what they've found. Beyond the controversial labor terms, the compacts signal a retreat for the state on several important fronts, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and his point man on gaming, Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, have told the tribes. Advertisement Torrico contrasted the compacts for the big gaming tribes with those pending for three impoverished tribes – Los Coyotes of San Diego County and the Big Lagoon and Yurok bands of Northern California – that don't have casinos. Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon agreed to the collective-bargaining language sought by labor and accepted by at least six other tribes that negotiated compacts with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Los Coyotes, Big Lagoon and Yurok also agreed to other concessions – independent audits of gaming revenues, compliance with federal and state workplace health and safety standards, enforcement of court-ordered child-and spousal-support payments and participation in the state workers' compensation system, Torrico said. Those provisions also were included in some of the earlier compacts Schwarzenegger negotiated. The Republican governor touted many as examples of the tougher regulation he has brought to California's $7 billion tribal gaming industry. “They agreed to all of those things,” Torrico said in a recent interview. “Then you have the other group, the big tribes – Sycuan, San Manuel, Morongo, Pechanga and Agua Caliente. They have different compacts.” The big tribes' compacts do not contain the tougher provisions, deferring instead to the tribes in most cases. Rather than independent audits, for example, the tribes can self-certify gaming revenues. They may set up their own workers' compensation system and are not obligated to garnish wages for family-support orders. Torrico said he and Núñez have aired their concerns with the tribes as both sides prepare for what could be another battle over the compacts. Committee hearings on measures to ratify the deals could begin as early as this month. Torrico is chairman of the Governmental Organization Committee, which oversees all gambling-related matters and where the compacts will get their first hearing in the Democratic-controlled Assembly. “We think it is appropriate to let the tribes know what our concerns are and why there is not support for those compacts in the Assembly Democratic caucus,” Torrico said. “We're just being up front with them about that, and we're very confident . . . that there are not 41 votes for these compacts in the Assembly.” The tribes contend that after exhaustive negotiations, they reached agreements with Schwarzenegger on all of the issues that were on the table. “There are very good reasons for the differences between some of the compacts,” Pechanga representative Jacob Mejia said, citing “the unique circumstances of individual tribes.” Jake Coin, communications director for San Manuel, agreed. “The wonder of these compacts has always been that the state and a tribe ought to be able to fashion an agreement that fits that unique situation,” Coin said. The five tribes are among the richest and most politically powerful in the state. The pending compacts – good until Dec. 31, 2030 – would permit them to build mega-casinos rivaling some of the biggest in the world. The tribes had been at odds with Schwarzenegger until last spring, when the governor reached out to them as he began preparing for his fall re-election campaign. Negotiations that had been deadlocked for two years quickly resumed, and the five revised compacts were sent to the Legislature for ratification in August, as busy lawmakers were preparing to adjourn for the year. Agua Caliente's new deal, which came first, cleared the Senate before it stalled against stiff labor opposition in the Assembly. The four other compacts were shelved without a vote in either house. The agreements would allow Pechanga of Temecula, Morongo of east Riverside County and San Manuel of San Bernardino County to operate up to 7,500 slot machines each in two casinos. Sycuan of El Cajon and Agua Caliente of Palm Springs were granted up to 5,000 slot machines. Sycuan also retained an option for a second casino. Agua Caliente, the only tribe in the state that already operates two major casinos, was authorized to build a third. The tribes' existing compacts, approved in 1999, limit each to 2,000 slots and two casinos. In exchange for being able to expand, the five tribes agreed to give the state a larger cut of their gaming revenues. They also agreed to stronger environmental, patron and employee protections. The compacts “impose additional regulations, standards and requirements on the tribes,” said Pechanga's Mejia. In addition, unlike seven Schwarzenegger compacts that permit unlimited slots, the pending deals cap the number of machines each tribe may have, he said. Coin said San Manuel believes it already addresses in other ways most, if not all, of the issues Torrico and Núñez have raised. San Manuel, for example, has a collective-bargaining agreement and requires casino employees to honor child-and spousal-support obligations, he said. “We ought not be subject to the same discussion . . . where there is nothing to fix here at San Manuel,” Coin said. The Schwarzenegger administration doesn't deny that many of its earlier compacts have tougher provisions. A spokeswoman for the governor said it was “important to understand that each compact is negotiated as a separate package.” “Since they're separately negotiated, the terms are different,” said spokeswoman Sabrina Lockhart. Amending existing compacts, such as those for Sycuan and the other big gaming tribes, also is different from negotiating new agreements, such as those for Los Coyotes, Big Lagoon and Yurok, Lockhart said. Nonetheless, Torrico questioned why the governor would allow the big tribes to certify gaming revenues from which the state receives its cut. The state can audit those reports, although it has been slow to audit tribes in the past. Most of Schwarzenegger's previous compacts require tribes to submit annual reports from independent auditors. “It's not a question of trust,” Torrico said. “It's a question of the state's resources and the public's perception of that. “If the state's taxing revenue is going to be based on the net win, it seems to me reasonable for us to ask the tribes to consider an independent CPA to determine what the net win is.” The areas where the Schwarzenegger administration appeared to give ground to the big tribes also are detailed in a comprehensive comparison of all of the state's compacts done by the nonpartisan California Research Bureau. The 78-page report by Charlene Simmons, the bureau's assistant director, was released in February. In addition to the issues raised by Assembly Democrats, Simmons' report notes that the administration agreed to new language that appears to weaken environmental standards established in Schwarzenegger's earlier compacts. Language unique to the five compacts declares that required mitigation for environmental impacts of a gaming project may not “unduly (interfere) with the principal objectives of the project,” the report noted. Torrico also believes the administration committed a blunder when it failed to include language to cover the void created when a federal court ruled last fall that the National Indian Gaming Commission has no authority to regulate most tribal casinos. That decision was affirmed by an appeals court Oct. 20. The Schwarzenegger administration could have required the tribes, as other states do, to comply with the federal standards established by the commission. Núñez has been saying for months that the compacts should be renegotiated. The tribes and the administration are pushing hard for votes on the pending deals. “We're not going to negotiate against ourselves,” said Lockhart, the governor's spokeswoman. “The governor stands by these compacts.” Torrico and other sources said the administration again was asking different tribes to accept tougher standards in their previous compacts. “I'm hearing the governor has a number of ongoing negotiations with other tribes . . . and interestingly, many of the issues I've raised are being raised in those negotiations by the Governor's Office,” Torrico said. The administration does not comment on negotiations.