Ruling bothers some tribes

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

SACRAMENTO -- In a move seen as "a poke in the eye" by some tribal leaders, Gov. Gray Davis has ordered 28 California Indian tribes to pay gambling fees to the state Gambling Control Commission rather than the state treasurer.

The executive order, which comes a few weeks before the start of negotiations between Davis and tribes over possible changes in their 20-year gambling compacts with the state, also authorizes the commission to audit the tribes.

A spokeswoman for the governor said the order was designed simply to clarify ambiguous language in the compacts Davis signed with 61 tribes in 1999.

But some tribal leaders said the governor is overstepping his authority at a time when he is hoping casino tribes will agree to pay a larger share of their revenues to the cash-strapped state.

The flap underscores the long-running antipathy between the commission, whose members are appointed by the governor, and some California tribes, who see any effort at commission oversight as an illegal infringement upon their governmental sovereignty.