Schwarzenegger suggests tribes in breach of pact

Thursday, February 17, 2005  

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is suggesting that some tribes may be in breach of the tribal-state compact for offering more than 2,000 gaming devices.

Schwarzenegger's spokesperson cited a ruling [PDF] from the California Gambling Control Commission. The ruling concluded that each player station at a multi-terminal gaming system is a "gaming device."

That puts the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians at risk of violating a provision of the compact that limits each tribe to 2,000 gaming devices. The Pechanga Band is reportedly 91 devices over the limit and has filed a lawsuit to block the ruling.

In a separate action, the commission issued a ruling [PDF] defining the "net win" of slot machines. Tribes had proposed an alternate definition that would have required them to pay less to the state.

Get the Story:
Tribes face challenge from state over slots (Copley News Service 2/17)