"Membership on the Assembly and Senate Governmental Organization committees, or Gee-Oh, as they are known to Capitol insiders, have always been coveted assignments.

That's because GO committees handle the "juice" bills _ legislation important to gambling, tobacco and liquor interests. Politicians traditionally have been able to squeeze campaign contributions _ "juice" _ from interests involved with these bills.

No special interest contributes more to political campaigns of GO members than wealthy gambling tribes. Tribal donors' influence was on full display in the Assembly GO committee last week as some of the richest and most powerful tribes urged the panel to reject a compact Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had negotiated with the Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes tribes.

In exchange for the right to build a casino in Barstow, 700 miles from its ancestral home, the Big Lagoon tribe gave up its rights to build a casino on the edge of an environmentally sensitive estuary that borders a string of state parks in Humboldt County. Los Coyotes, an impoverished tribe from rural San Diego County, had previously reached agreement with officials in Barstow to build a casino there. Barstow's mayor and other political leaders have long sought a casino to revive the local economy.

But four Southern California gambling tribes oppose the Barstow casino deal. The most prominent among them is the Agua Caliente, which owns two casinos in Palm Springs. Agua Caliente's chairman, Richard Milanovich, testified in the Assembly committee against the casino deal."

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Tribal funds cast doubt over votes of California lawmakers (ScrippsNews Blog 7/7)