"The tribal perspective was missing in a recent article on state Sen. Jim Battin's legislation that deals with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration's artificial limit on machine licenses.

I. Nelson Rose, a professed expert on gambling, was quoted as saying that "the (Battin) bill has little chance of passing, because it does not require tribes to pay more money beyond what is agreed in their existing compacts ... If it's not going to give more money to the state, then the question is, why do it?"

Why indeed?

For starters, the 1999 tribal-state compacts to which Rose refers have not been revoked. They are still in effect and binding. Battin's bill recognizes that tribal gaming compacts negotiated in 1999, signed by 63 tribes and then-Gov. Gray Davis, ratified by the state Legislature and approved by the U.S. Interior Department, are a legal contract with the state.

These are the same agreements voters ratified by overwhelmingly passing Proposition 1A.

But Schwarzenegger refuses to talk about them. They have been ignored to support his exaggerated claims of money the state can extort from tribal gaming. These compacts allow a maximum of 2,000 machines per tribe, ensuring that the machines and revenues will be disbursed among many tribes, rather than concentrated in a few casinos.

Claiming there are no machines available under the terms of the 1999 agreement, the governor denies tribes, like the Rincon Band, the right to expand to the promised 2,000 slots.

Meanwhile, in 2004, Schwarzenegger gave five tribes an unlimited number of machines. Then, in 2007, he granted another five tribes 32,500 new machines."

Get the Story:
Vernon Wright: Battin bill honors state's contractual obligation to tribes (The North County Times 3/23)