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Posted on 01/17/2003 11:51:59 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Davis eyes more gaming
State: Governor would support expansion of tribal gambling, including more slots, to fill budget gap.
SACRAMENTO Gov. Gray Davis said for the first time Thursday he's "open to' an expansion of Indian gambling in California in exchange for tribal revenue to help close the state's multibillion-dollar budget deficit.
"If I can be assured that there is a need to do it, I'm open to it,' he said during his annual speech to the Sacramento Press Club. "But first ... there has to be an indication that there's demand, that there is local approval, that local governments approve an expansion or a new casino as the case may be.'
Davis used his speech to discuss his plan, unveiled as part of his budget proposal last week, to get $1.5 billion from tribes as part of his solution to a budget shortfall he's estimated at $34.6 billion.
He said the plan was modeled after programs in Connecticut and New York where tribes pay up to 25 percent of their revenues to the state. The 49 California tribes that operate casinos generate an estimated $5 billion in revenue annually.
Davis did not elaborate on where exactly the money would come from and a spokeswoman said later that such details had not been determined.
Tribal and state officials are about to embark on high-stakes renegotiations of the compacts that govern Indian gambling. The compacts, signed three years ago as tribal gambling became legal in the state, limit tribes to a maximum of 2,000 slot machines each.
Slot machines are casinos' cash cows, generating as much as 95 percent of their revenue, and some tribes have chafed at the 2,000-machine limit.
Asked if he'd consider lifting the cap on slot machines in exchange for revenue from the tribes Davis made the comment that he'd be open to it.
Tribes do not now pay money that goes to the state's general fund, but they do pay into two other funds, one for tribes without casinos and one to reimburse local governments for the impacts of casinos, and other purposes.
As sovereign governments, tribes cannot be taxed, but they can agree to revenue-sharing ar rangements.
Davis' $1.5 billion proposal has sparked angry opposition from some tribal leaders, while others have cautiously welcomed the possibility that in exchange Davis would lift the slot machine cap.
"I think that the governor's budget announcement could be a win-win for the tribes and the state and I think it ought to be,' Anthony Pico, chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, said this week.
Deron Marquez, chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, said the tribes didn't create the budget deficit and shouldn't have to solve it.
That is why Davis is doing this, he is just looking for more campaign cash for his next campaign!
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