After the voters of California declined to give gaming tribes the ability to sue the Golden State’s card clubs, lawmakers are close to giving the tribes the same legal cudgel, Cal Matters reported August 14.
Last November the state’s voters decided between two competing sports gambling measures after the most expensive state campaign in history by turning both down.
One of the measures, Proposition 26, a tribal-sponsored measure, would have given tribes control of sports betting, would have added to the table games they offer, while a third provision the card clubs saw as an existential threat: It would have authorized the Attorney General to close down card clubs he considered to be violators, and given tribes the right to sue in civil court if the AG refused to act.
Senate Bill 549 uses language from Prop. 26, specifically the third provision.
When the Legislature returns into session, the issue will have the tribes, and their endless supply of money on one side, and the owner of the Hawaiian Gardens casino on the other side, which is committed to spending at least $5 million this year to figure SB 549.
One of the largest card clubs in California, it accounts for two-thirds of the budget of the one square mile city of Hawaiian Gardens.
