California Governor Jerry Brown last week signed 10 tribal gaming pacts as the Golden State’s legislators moved to complete the 2016 session. The compacts represent a new way of looking at casino profits by the state: aiming to improve things for communities that host casinos, as opposed to the state’s general fund.
The lawmakers hope to ratify the agreements before they go home to campaign for reelection at the end of August.
The final compact was signed with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, which operates the Cache Creek Casino Resort. The unifying concept of all of the new compacts is that the state will collect less money for the general fund, earmarking more for non-gaming tribes, local government and other groups.
Wintun Chairman Erica Pinto praised the new compact: “The compact creates an economic environment that allows the tribe to transition to self-sufficiency and to contribute to other tribes, the community and local government.”
This new way of looking at gaming revenues derived in part from a 2010 decision rendered by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case brought against California by the Rincon Band Of Luiseño Indians, located in San Diego County, that limited the state’s ability. The case ended the practice that was in full swing during the administration of former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who saw the gaming tribes as a cash cow for the state, and squeezed hundreds of millions of dollars out of them. He did little to try to pressure tribes to allow unionization of tribal gaming.
Under the Wintun compact, the tribe will pay $15 million annually, with $9 million of that to be given to Yolo County and other local government to fund services, economic development or to pay to mitigate the effects of the casino on local communities.
In return the tribe has agreed to limit its slots to 3,500, 1,500 more than it currently operates. An old provision that was retained is that any projects related to gaming will be subject to environmental review and public comment.
Although the tribe will pay $33 million dollars to the state, only $6 million will go to the general fund. The rest will go to the County government, local jurisdictions and to a fund that will benefit tribes that have no gaming.
The Wintun compact signing was announced in conjunction with similar agreements with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, Jamul Indian Village, Pala Band of Mission Indians, the Yurok Tribe, the Barona Band of Mission Indians, the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwok Indians.
Agua Caliente Chairman Jeff Grubbe hailed his tribe’s new agreement, which replaces its 1999 agreement: “In order to give the tribe an increased ability to ensure gaming dollars stay in the Coachella Valley, this compact now allows the tribe to reallocate a large portion of the compact payments that previously went directly to the state, and instead direct those funds to a wide variety of economic development and infrastructure projects for various purposes in the Coachella Valley that mutually benefit the tribe and surrounding communities.”
The new compact would also allow the Agua Caliente tribe to operate as many as six casinos total. The tribe currently operates the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs and Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage. It could operate off-reservation casinos in Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage and in unincorporated parts of Riverside County—but the land would have to be put into trust first by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The number of slots it could operate in all of its casinos would be capped at 5,000.
The compact addresses this situation in this passage: “The Agua Caliente Band Of Cahuilla Indians’ unique ‘checker-board’ reservation has limited the tribe’s ability to fully develop its gaming operations and the state recognizes that the tribe and the surrounding local communities will benefit from economic development and accompanying job creation if the tribe is able to develop gaming facilities on certain parcels of land that are contiguous to the tribe’s current reservation boundaries.”
The governor’s office added that allowing off-reservation gaming would allow the tribe to “make significant investments that will generate jobs and stimulate additional economic growth in each of those communities.”
The tribe’s tax rate on its slot machines would be lowered from 13 percent to 6 percent on its first 2,500 machines, but the rate would increase to 11 percent after 4,500 machines.
The new compacts provide incentives for funding to go to local emergency services, police, schools, public transit and improvements to infrastructure such as water conservation projects, recycling, renewable energy and health care.
They also include labor provisions that are more acceptable to unions, which have had an often-rocky relation with gaming tribes. The compacts provide a way for more tribal casinos to unionize, something that many of them have opposed in the past. The compacts don’t force the tribes to allow unions, but does require that they allow access by unions to employees.
Two tribes, Pechanga and Yocha De, will be able to contribute towards the California Native American Education and Scholarship Fund that will help tribal members from tribes that don’t have casinos.
The governor also signed a 25-year compact with a new gaming partner, the Jamul Indian Village, which is scheduled to open its Hollywood Casino Jamul before the end of summer. The three-story casino, with a significant portion, including the parking structure, located underground because of the small size of the reservation, has been bitterly opposed by local residents, including San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who lives in Jamul.
Speaking about the compact, Jamul Chairman Erica Pinto said, “The compact creates an economic environment that allows the tribe to transition to self-sufficiency and to contribute to other tribes, the community and local government.” She added, “Through this compact, JIV reaffirms its commitment to working with the county on fire service, law enforcement and road improvements.” The casino is expected to employ more than 1,000 in permanent positions.
Meanwhile the California Senate Governmental Organization Committee has unanimously voted to approve of the compacts. The compacts must be ratified for the state before they can be sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has final say on whether they go into effect.
