Calif. voters expand Indian gaming by a wide margin

Brendan Riley

Wednesday, March 8, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

Indian tribes can operate casinos on their reservations in California under a newly approved ballot measure that could double or triple the amount of slot machines in the state.

With 99 percent of precints reporting, voters supported Proposition 1A by a 65 percent to 35 percent margin Tuesday. The initiative is a constitutional amendment that essentially ratifies agreements signed by Gov. Gray Davis and 57 of California's 107 federally recognized tribes in 1999.

"Now those political battles can be put to rest and we can get on to the business of planning, bringing the kind of certainty that our people need," added Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga tribe based in Temecula.

Opponents such as former Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, who served two years on a national panel studying gambling, said the vote means a huge expansion of Las Vegas-backed casinos and trouble for many Californians with gambling addictions.

"What's being totally ignored as this massive expansion is approved is the hundreds of thousands of California families that are going to be destroyed," McCarthy said.

Davis has said the number of slot machines at Indian casinos could double to about 44,000. Other estimates put the potential total at more than 100,000 -- half the amount in all of Nevada. Indian leaders said the slot count could climb to about 65,000 under 1A.

The tribes spent at least $21 million promoting 1A, while opponents spent less than $50,000.

Under 1A, tribes and the governor can negotiate compacts for slot machines or for house-banked, Nevada-style card games. The measure is a follow-up to a 1998 ballot measure that was strongly opposed by Nevada's casino industry and ultimately rejected by the California Supreme Court.

This time around, Nevada gambling companies put up no organized fight. Instead, several gambling corporations were busy arranging deals with California tribes that would let them cash in on the across-the-border expansion.

For example, Harrah's Entertainment Inc. plans to build a $100 million resort for the Rincon San Luiseno Band of Mission Indians in San Diego County.