Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999 | 10:06 a.m.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Most elements of a compromise on Indian gambling were endorsed by most tribes late Wednesday, after lawmakers acted on a constitutional revision that's part of the deal.
The tribes voted 39-11 to send to Gov. Gray Davis a proposal that's only slightly different than one his negotiators had given them on Tuesday. Indian leaders said they hoped to know Thursday whether the governor would accept their changes.
"We've crossed a major threshold tonight, finalizing the language that tribes believe is tenable," said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga band in Temecula.
"We said no," said Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente band which has a big Palm Springs casino. While Milanovich had softened his opposition to proposed limits on slot machines, he said he was still holding out for "a fair and equitable compact."
Milanovich didn't like the majority proposal for allocating slots among the tribes. Also, there was still no agreement on unionizing rights for Indian casino workers. Davis and Senate leader John Burton, D-San Francisco, have insisted on that protection, but the tribes have balked at a mandate from the state.
Milanovich is still moving ahead with a separate ballot proposal that, like the Burton measure, would cancel last month's state Supreme Court ruling against the Indian casinos.
Davis wants the Indians' ballot plan dropped, but the Aguas are continuing to turn in signatures to qualify it for the March ballot in order to keep a strong bargaining position with other tribes, Davis and lawmakers.
The tribes' 39-11 vote on a tentative compromise came after two Assembly committees backed a constitutional amendment proposed by Senate leader John Burton that would give tribes a monopoly on casinos.
The legislative committee support cleared the way for final votes by the full Assembly and Senate before the 1999 session ends Friday. Voters would have final say on the constitutional revision in March.
During one Assembly committee hearing on the Burton amendment, Macarro said it provides "drastically needed certainty" that the Indian casinos can stay open pending California voters' decision on the amendment in March.
But Mary Ann Martin Andreas, chairwoman of the Morongo band of Mission Indians near Palm Springs, said the proposal isn't perfect and "leaves many, many problems" for the tribes to sort out.
A major roadblock to the entire package had been the insistence by some tribes that the compact not limit slots. Davis, calling for modest slot growth, wanted to hold the line at about 42,000 - up from the current total of 17,000. The proposal returned to him by the tribes was for about 43,000 slots.
The Indians' proposal also calls for a pool of available slots that the state's 107 tribes could draw from - up to a maximum of 2,500 per tribal casino for some.
A coordinator for all the tribes would oversee the slot allocations and the distribution of revenues generated by the slot acquisitions. That would result in revenue-sharing that would benefit all tribes whether or not they have casinos - a concept endorsed by Davis.
The state Supreme Court started the scramble for a deal by striking down Proposition 5, a 1998 voter-approved measure that allowed a major expansion of Indian-run gambling.
The court's August ruling said the initiative sought to allow the type of Nevada-style games of chance prohibited by a 1984 amendment to the state constitution.
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