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Morongo Band of Mission Indians Tribal Council Chairman Maurice Lyons walked out of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday and said, "We got a deal."
Lyons' tribe, which operates the 24-story Morongo Casino Resort in Cabazon about 16 miles from Palm Springs was the third to strike a deal Tuesday with the governor.
And what a deal it is - for both sides.
California General Fund revenues could hit a $21.8 billion jackpot through 2030 if the Indian gaming deals with three tribes are ratified.
The four tribes currently pushing for ratification would be allowed to dramatically increase their slot machine numbers. As many as 21,325 new slot machines could come to casinos within a 73-mile radius of Palm Springs under the plans now being considered.
The area is currently licensed for about 13,000 slot machines - 2,000 each at Fantasy Springs near Indio, Spotlight29 in Coachella, Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs, Morongo in Cabazon, San Manuel in Highland and Pechanga in Temecula; 777 at Augustine in La Quinta; and 350 approved for the Torrez Martinez in Thermal.
The three agreements, announced Tuesday in Sacramento, were between Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
"At this time, it feels great,'' Lyons said, walking out of the governor's office with his entourage. "We've been working on this for three years."
"We never left the table,'' Lyons added. "We were very happy we could get it done."
The deals would allow each tribe to increase its number of slots by 5,500 to 7,500 slots. The state would reap the benefits.
Late Tuesday, Lyons said in a written statement that the Morongo negotiations took a long time because the tribe resisted a cookie-cutter approach to tribal gaming that overlooked the wide diversity of tribal governments, their needs and varying resources.
"While this agreement represents a compromise that doesn't accomplish everything we might have wanted, it will nonetheless serve the best interests of Morongo's tribal members and the state.
"It meets the state's need to generate significant new revenue for the General Fund. It will create an estimated 4,000 new jobs in the Inland Empire. Finally, it will generate at least $2 billion a year in new economic activity to add to California's growing prosperity."
Until the announcements of the new compacts, the main tribal push in Sacramento had been on for Assembly affirmation of the $1.8 billion deal that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had signed Aug. 8 with the Palm Springs-based Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians.
That deal, which would bring an additional 3,000 slot machines and a third casino to the 32,500-acre Agua Caliente reservation in Palm Springs, stalled Monday in the Democrat-controlled Assembly.
Labor unions rallied against the agreement Monday in the first round of votes in the Assembly, saying it represented a roadblock to organizing casino workers.
When terms of the governor's deals with Pechanga and San Manuel were announced, Agua Caliente tribal chairman Richard Milanovich professed, "The revenue stream is going to be tremendous."
The three newly signed compacts, could not only put pressure on the Assembly to pass the Agua Caliente terms outlined in Assembly Bill 2399, authored by Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, but had some tribal leaders likening the scenario in Sacramento to the 1999 compact showdown.
And Ray Torres, chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, said Monday that he planned to be in Sacramento on Tuesday to gain 1,650 slots in a future casino on Interstate-10 in Coachella.
The Torres Martinez began building its first casino on Highway 86 for 350 slots on Aug. 15, Torres said.
William Thompson, a public administration professor with the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, said the governor's strategy appears to be cut-and-dried.
"He's trying to develop a marketplace where the state gets its hands on a lot of money,'' he said. "There are no principles involved in this at all."
This is all about following the money, he said.
Andrea Hoch, a principal member of the governor's negotiating team, said the goal of the governor in negotiating the compacts for tribal gaming is to manage casino growth while maximizing the benefit to all Californians.
"Each point is negotiated point-by-point, on a tribe-by-tribe basis,'' she said, to generate revenues for the state's general fund and build in protections for employees, patrons who visit the facilities and local communities around the tribes.
Hoch said it's the governor's hope that the compacts will beratified in this session.
The legislative session ends on Thursday, giving the tribes only about 48 hours to build support for the measures.
And the Palm Springs-based Agua Caliente showed no signs of backing down. The tribe even seemed to be gaining labor support after Monday's slowdown.
By midday Tuesday, a letter penned by Communication Workers of America District 9 was circulating in the Capitol, urging support of the Agua Caliente compact, and the three agreements announced Tuesday by the governor.
The CWA is organized at the San Manuel Bingo & Casino near Highland, and represents more than 1,500 Indian casino workers in California.
Signed by Tony Bixler, CWA District 9 vice president, it said the CWA believes in tribal sovereignty and "supports the compact of the Agua Caliente, as we did during the late 90's, when Proposition 5 was an issue."
That letter changed the dynamic, as the CWA organized at San Manuel under terms of the 1999 compact agreements which remain unchanged in the Agua Caliente compact pending before the Assembly. Those terms, spelled out in a Tribal Labor Relations Ordinance, allow unions to organize under a secret ballot vote, as opposed to a call card process that unions have been pressing for - one requiring fewer votes than a simple majority and can be handled in informal settings.
Barry Broad, who represents the Teamsters, among other labor groups, said of the CWA letter, "All of us are in one place and they're in another."
"I don't think they're doing their credibility any favors,'' Broad said, while noting no apparent opposition to ratification of the new deal for the San Manuel.
The Agua Caliente deal, in the form of the Bonnie Garcia-sponsored bill, was not called for another vote in the Assembly Tuesday.
It had passed the state Senate earlier this month by a wide majority.
The Garcia bill, which lacked 8 votes of the 41-vote Assembly majority it needed Monday, can be called for another vote before Thursday's end of the session.
If it is not called or does not pass, it will be dead. The compact signed with the governor could be re-presented in another bill to the Assembly when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Milanovich, while acknowledging the letter from the Communication Workers of America helped, noted that the Assembly bill to ratify the Agua Caliente amendments would resurface only when the time is right in these last days of the session.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, offered no clues of when Garcia's bill might be called for a vote.
"We've got a lot of stuff we're working on,'' said Núñez, who is viewed as key to the legislation and is viewed as an advocate of labor.
Asked to suggest prospects for the Morongo's compact to be put before this legislature, Lyons said, "We're going to do what we have to do to push this through."
Jacob Coin, spokesman for the San Manuel, said the tribe's in-house lobbyist was already working on legislation to try to get the legislation to ratify its compact passed.
Coin indicated mid-day Tuesday that tribes would individually seek ratification by lawmakers, rather than lump the compacts together.
One tribe, the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation of Imperial County and Yuma, Ariz., saw its amended compact get final approval from the Legislature and have it sent back to the governor for his final signature.
The vote was 34-1 in the Senate.
With time running short, Coin said, energies are running high on all sides.
"It's a very charged environment,'' he said. "It's the closing days,'' and many things could happen, he said.
Gambling for dollars
Four tribes within a 73-mile radius of Palm Springs could pump as much as $23.1 billion into California's economy, if their 1999 Indian gaming compacts amendments signed this month with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are ratified.
Here is a breakdown of what the state says California can expect in gaming revenues flowing to the state's General Fund alone.
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
The tribe, currently operating the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs and Agua Caliente Casino near Rancho Mirage with a total of 2,000 slots, would gain the right to put a total of 4,000 slots into play in its two casinos and another 1,000 in a third casino. For the 5,000 slots, it would pay:
$23.4 million per year to the General Fund on its 2,000 slots for a total of $561.6 million over the life of the compact.
At full build-out, up to $81.9 million a year to the General Fund, giving the compact a $1.8 billion value through 2030.
San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians and Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians
The tribes, operating casinos in Highland and Temecula, negotiated individual compacts with similar terms, announced Tuesday's morning.
Each tribe, now with 2,000 slots, gained a 5,500-slot advantage or the right to operate up to 7,500 machines in up to two casinos.
Under the new deal, the tribe would pay the state:
A fixed payment of $45 million annually from San Manuel and $42.5 million from Pechanga for their existing 2,000 slots to the General Fund. For every new machine added from 2001 to 5,000 slots, the tribe would pay 15 percent of the net win.
The percentage rises to 25 percent of the net win for every slot added from 5,001 to 7,500.
This guarantees over $2.1 billion to the state over the life of the compact, and more, with added slots at the higher percentages.
If Pechanga, with its Temecula casino about 73 miles from Palm Springs, places only 5,000 machines, total, the state stands to get over $3.7 billion over the life of the compact; and over $7 billion if it operates up to 7,500 machines. The numbers of San Manuel, operating a casino in Highland about 58 miles from Palm Springs are similar: If the tribe operates a total of 5,000 machines, the state will get over $3.8 billion over the life of the compact or $7.2 billion with up to 7,500 machines.
Combined, the total value of both compacts could range between $7 billion and $14 billion.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians
The tribe, operating the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa on its reservation in Cabazon about 16 miles from Palm Springs, has negotiated a compact with flat-fee terms and percentages that are similar to the San Manuel and Pechanga tribes.
It would gain the right to operate 7,500 slots, placing up to 25 machines in its tribal travel center.
The compact carries a value of $5.2 billion through 2030. |
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