Supervisors Take Stand Against Both Indian Gaming Propositions

By Joe Naiman

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt resolutions opposing the two Indian gaming initiatives on the Nov. 2 ballot.

By 5-0 vote on Sept. 21, supervisors opposed Proposition 68, the Gaming Revenue Act of 2004, and Proposition 70, the Indian Gaming Fair Share Revenue Act of 2004.

Prop. 68 would authorize certain horse racing track and card club owners in urban and suburban areas to operate large casinos with up to 30,000 slot machines. 

“This is a deceptive attempt to change California’s constitution to create these Las Vegas-style casinos,” Supervisor Dianne Jacob said.

Because the new casinos could potentially increase crime in those areas as well as traffic congestion, more than 130 law-enforcement groups, including more than 30 county sheriffs, also oppose the measure.

Prop. 68 would exempt the new casino developments from local zoning laws and the California Environmental Quality Act, which Jacob noted would undermine local control, and it also would exempt those card clubs and racetracks from future state and local tax increases.

The resolution opposing Prop. 68 also notes that the measure denies cities and counties the right to use funds where local governments determine they are most needed.

Prop. 70 encourages tribes to place casinos in major cities but does not provide the state with a means to audit them.

“Prop. 70 grants tribes 99-year agreements while reversing the ability of the state to require important protection for local communities,” Jacob said.

Under federal law, Indian tribes are considered sovereign nations and are not required to pay most federal, state or local taxes such as income, property and sales tax.

Gov. Schwarzenegger negotiated agreements with several tribes, which will provide the state with hundreds of millions of dollars each year in additional revenue and help local governments meet essential service needs created by the casinos.

The agreements between Gov. Schwarzenegger and the tribes also require tribal environmental impact reports, which would result in the mitigation of impacts.

Prop. 70, which grants exclusive tribal gaming rights with no limit on the number of types of machines, was drafted by a single Indian tribe and does not have the support of many of the state’s other 104 tribal nations. Provisions in the initiative threaten to undermine the recent agreements, some experts say.

The California State Association of Counties has also expressed opposition to Prop. 68 and 70.