Courtesy of KTVU.com
Sacramento
– California’s first urban casino would pay the state 25 percent
of its proceeds – as high as any tribe in the nation – but would
have half as many slot machines as originally proposed, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and tribal negotiators agreed Monday.
Courtesy of KTVU.com
Sacramento – California’s first urban casino would pay the state 25 percent of its proceeds – as high as any tribe in the nation – but would have half as many slot machines as originally proposed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and tribal negotiators agreed Monday.
Slicing the number of slot machines at the largest casino would trim the state’s annual take from five casino compacts signed Monday from $200 million to $180 million, the administration estimated.
The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians agreed to reduce from 5,000 to 2,500 the number of slot machines it would operate in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area. But the administration projected that more people will use the fewer machines, and the state will collect 25 percent of card game proceeds as well, minimizing the revenue loss.
The tribe and governor backed away from creating what would have been one of the world’s largest casinos after objections from key lawmakers, including Senate leader John Burton.
The tribe and administration are in a rush to get all five of the newly signed compacts approved before the Legislature adjourns as early as Friday.
Burton, a Democrat from San Francisco, now supports the proposal. The revised plan also won tentative approval from Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who represents San Pablo and arranged for the federal law that let the tribe acquire the urban land.
The new plan is closer to what backers envisioned and would have less effect on the city, Miller said in a statement. He is still concerned about a provision giving the tribe a monopoly on gambling with a 35-mile radius, dashing the hopes of nearby tribes and communities.
Schwarzenegger’s administration had said a smaller casino wouldn’t bring the revenue that would make a 25 percent state share practical. That would match the highest contributions of any tribes in the nation, and meet a Schwarzenegger campaign pledge.
The U.S. Department of Interior must also approve the compacts, which include new or amended agreements with the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians.
The Lytton tribe decided to cut its number of slot machines after objections from other parts of the Bay Area endangered the chances of the deal to pass the Legislature, tribal Chair Margie Mejia said in a letter to Schwarzenegger.
Reflecting the acrimony over the original proposal, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said she would seek to amend California’s constitution to give lawmakers greater oversight over gambling compacts she complained are now negotiated by the governor in secret. Her amendment would require 60 days of public review of compacts she said now are rushed through the Legislature.
The 259-member tribe is poised to turn its San Pablo card room, located about 15 miles northeast of San Francisco, into a casino rivaling some of the largest in the nation even with half the originally proposed slot machines.
