A Class III gaming compact for the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians can now be sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs after gaining final approval in California.
The compact authorizes an off-reservation casino, a first in the state. The deal encountered opposition from tribes with existing gaming facilities but it still managed to win approval in the Legislature. "We are very pleased that the California State Legislature, after examining our tribe's history and our project's merits, voted to ratify Governor Brown's visionary Tribal-State Gaming Compact with our tribe. This action caps over a decade of rigorous, cooperative, and transparent work on many levels of government," Chairwoman Elaine Bethel-Fink said in a statement, The Fresno Bee reported. Rival tribes are trying to block the facility in federal court. Get the Story: