California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) issued an Indian gaming proclamation on Wednesday setting out his policy for negotiating compacts and approving land-into-trust requests.
The pertinent part of the proclamation [Text] reads:1. I shall oppose proposals for the federal acquisition of lands within any urbanized area where the lands sought to be acquired in trust are to be used to conduct or facilitate gaming activities. 2. I shall decline to engage in negotiations for tribal-state gaming compacts where the Indian tribe does not have Indian lands eligible for class III gaming. 3. I shall consider requests for a gubernatorial concurrence under section 20(b)(1)(A) of IGRA, that would allow a tribe to conduct class III gaming on newly acquired land, only in cases where each of the following criteria is satisfied: a) The land that is sought for class III gaming is not within any urbanized area. b) The local jurisdiction in which the tribe's proposed gaming project is located supports the project. c) The tribe and the local jurisdiction demonstrate that the affected local community supports the project, such as by a local advisory vote. d) The project substantially serves a clear, independent public policy, separate and apart from any increased economic benefit or financial contribution to the State, community, or the Indian tribe that may arise from gaming.and
5. I shall support legislative ratification and Department of Interior approval of each compact or amended compact negotiated by my administration, including the one compact for a casino in an urban area that is not yet ratified by the Legislature. [Note: This is the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians compact.] 6. For purpose of this Proclamation, "urbanized area" means the definition of that term as defined in Public Resources Code section 21071, subdivision (a). A list of the cities meeting this definition as of the date of this Proclamation is attached hereto.Get the Story: