Top California lawmakers who have opposed six new gaming compacts are reaching out to the affected tribes in hopes of getting the deals approved, Copley News Service reports.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, a Democrat, opposed the compacts out of concern for labor unions. But now he has told labor organizers that they won't get everything they want and that the deals won't be renegotiated.

So he is working with the tribes on ways to address labor issues without overhauling the compacts. "We're talking to see what we can work out," said Danny Tucker, chairman of the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians.

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, a Democrat, said the change of heart came in response to the case involving the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. The tribe is subject to federal labor laws, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year.

Torrico said the decision, while negative to tribal interests, leaves labor issues to tribes and unions. "The San Manuel decision, in my opinion, basically pre-empts state and local governments from entering into labor relations," he said.

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Gaming impasse beginning to thaw (Copley News Service 6/8)