A measure that would allow California voters to consider legalizing sportsbook won’t happen now at least until 2022.
State Senator Bill Dodd June 22 has yanked his SCA 6, which would have amended the Golden State’s constitution, from consideration.
SCA 6, if passed by both chambers and, after being put on the 2018 ballot, by the voters, would have given tribal casinos and racetracks the right to offer sports wagers, while formalizing into law third-party proposition player services for card clubs that most tribes consider illegal. As Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, put it “Legalizing these illegal games played by the card rooms is a non-starter for us.”
SCA 6 would have also allowed online sports betting, something most tribes also consider anathema because they fear it will draw players away from their brick and mortar casinos.
It would have opened up the largest sports betting market in the country, which some estimate to be more than $13 billion. Dodd had claimed that his proposal would generate about $700 million a year in revenue for the state.
Co-sponsor Rep. Adam Gray, who had carried the bill in the Assembly, commented, “It remains important that we lift this widespread practice out of the shadows to make it safer and to generate money for the people of California. I will continue to be engaged in the issue as we work toward 2022.”
The 25-member Coalition to Authorize Regulated Sports Wagering that is pushing a rival proposition that would allow sports betting for tribes and racetracks, but not card clubs, issued a statement hailing the bill’s failure. Spokesman Jacob Mejia declared, “We appreciate that legislators saw through the smoke and mirrors and stopped SCA 6, the effort to break yet another agreement between California and Native American Tribes and expand Nevada-style games to card rooms.”
Some Sacramento observers said the failure of the bill owed to the fact that its author never included tribes. This demonstrated the reality that no sports betting bill without their support stands much chance of approval.
The tribal coalition’s own signature campaign to obtain about 1 million signatures to put their measure on the ballot was torpedoes by the Covid-19 shutdown when they were within striking distance of enough signatures and a 10 percent buffer.
Mejia said, “Over 1 million voters have signed our petition to legalize sports wagering at racetracks and tribal casinos, and we respect their preference to authorize sports wagering in a responsible and incremental manner,” but they still missed the deadline.
The tribes have gone to court to petition that the signatures they have already collected be counted toward raising enough for the 2022 ballot. A hearing on their request is set for July 2. If they don’t win there, they will have to restart the effort from square one.
At a recent webinar, tribal leaders vented over the attempt by Senator Dodd and other legislative leaders to go around them.
James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) and of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which owns Morongo Casino Resort, declared, “I think it’s outrageous how they are using the pandemic to further break promises they have made to tribes and chip away at our sovereignty.”
Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, who operate the largest casino on the West Coast added, “SCA 6 began during the pandemic. We had just qualified our ballot measure and had started to collect signatures. And then everyone had to stay inside. To the authors, that seemed like a good time to proceed, when we were down on the mat. That is the sucker punch I’ve been talking about lately.”
James Potter, chairman of Win-River Resort, observed, “They think Indians are foolish enough to grasp at anything.” He added, “We don’t know what the tax means to the tribes … they want to tax us at 10%, can small tribes afford that? But they think they’re being nice by saying, ‘Here, tribes, here, have a piece.’ ”
