Tribes attack plan allowing non-Indian slots

Chris T. Nguyen

Monday, Jan. 19, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Tribal leaders, alarmed at a movement to end their statewide monopoly on lucrative slot-machine gambling, say they are determined to fight a proposed ballot measure that would add the slots to racetracks and non-Indian card clubs.

"The people of California gave that exclusivity to us. It's going to hurt little tribes off the beaten path. It's going to do them under," Maurice Lyons, chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which operates Casino Morongo with 2,000 slot machines in Riverside County, said Thursday.

His remarks and those of other tribal members come just days before the state is to decide whether the proposed initiative meets the state's legal standards for being placed on the ballot. If it does, supporters will be allowed to gather petition signatures.

At least 598,105 valid signatures of registered voters, 8 percent of those who cast ballots in the 2002 gubernatorial election, are needed to place the measure before voters.

Lyons declined to say exactly what action the tribes might take, but other tribal representatives attending the annual Western Indian Gaming Conference here this week said a lawsuit was among the options being discussed.

The state attorney general's office, meanwhile, was expected to finish writing a description of the initiative today and forward it to the secretary of state's office.

One of the initiative's selling points is that it could result in profits from slot operations at racetracks and card clubs being funneled directly to financially strapped state programs.

Tribal casinos pay about $130 million a year into two funds, one that benefits rural tribes without gambling and another that seeks to mitigate the impact of casino operations on nearby communities. But the tribes, which reap about $4 billion a year from gambling, make no payments to the state general fund and, as sovereign nations, pay no taxes.

Horse trainers are some of the initiative's staunchest supporters. Slot machines would increase racetrack profits, which would mean bigger purses for owners and paydays for trainers and jockeys.

"Look across the country and see what it's done for the country. Where slot machines are involved, it's picked up the purses. We're losing a lot of the horses," said Mike Mitchell, a leading trainer in Southern California with 50 horses that compete at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar racetracks.

He said the better horses are going to East Coast tracks with slot machines where the purses are bigger.

The initiative's supporters also include operators of card clubs, where games such as poker and blackjack are allowed, but not slot machines. They say they have seen revenue decline substantially since California voters approved Las Vegas-style gambling for tribal casinos.

Under the proposed initiative, the 61 tribes offering casino gambling would be called on to renegotiate their operating agreements with the state and share at least 25 percent of their profits.

If they didn't, they could keep their slot machines but 16 other betting establishments would also be granted the authority to operate slots. They would include five horse tracks in the counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange and San Mateo and 11 card rooms in Los Angeles, San Diego, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties.

Those establishments, in return, would hand over 33 percent of their slot machine profits to the state.

Tribal officials say they already are major contributors to the state's economy. Anthony Miranda, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said the tribal gambling industry employs more than 40,000 workers who contribute about $400 million in federal, state and local taxes.

They also say the state's current agreement gives Indian casinos exclusive rights to operate slot machines in California. Bob Lytle, director of the California Department of Justice's Division of Gambling Control, agreed.

"The tribes do have something to stand on," Lytle said. "But I think it will end up in the courts."

archive