"Public discussion of Indian gaming has become a common part of California’s politics. Each election, it seems, Indian gaming issues are pushed front and center by one group or another. In the latest of these elections, Californians voted overwhelmingly in favor of new, more comprehensive tribal-state compacts in February 2008. Now is a good time to take stock of the results of this latest vote in particular – and of the impact of Indian gaming on California’s budget and economy in general.

Under the new, voter-approved compacts, California’s Indian Tribes were allowed to grow their businesses on their tribal lands; in return, voters wanted Tribes to generate new revenue for vital state services. Now, Tribes are beginning to deliver on that promise. On July 30th, my Tribe -- the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians -- made its first payment to the State of California under the new agreement, totaling $30.8 million. This amount, for about one and a half quarters of the year, exceeds the entire amount that Pechanga paid to the state for all of 2007. Other Tribes throughout California have also begun to make their payments for the first quarter of 2008.

Pechanga’s contribution to the California budget comes during a time of extraordinary economic hardship for our state. The new revenue from Pechanga – along with increased payments from other Tribes – represents one of the few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy Sacramento budget picture. The people of Pechanga hope that California’s elected officials will use this increased funding from tribes to help soften the blow of service cuts that would otherwise be felt by California’s working families."

Get the Story:
CHAIRMAN MARC MACARRO: Tribes Give Boost To State Budget (Pechanga.Net 8/18)