"A bill to give 16 Southern California tribes the right to join the Southern California Association of Governments as voting members is moving easily through the Legislature. Assembly Bill 2762, by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, was approved 73-0. The Senate voted 33-1 in favor. It has one more procedural vote in the Assembly before it goes to Gov.Schwarzenegger.

When it gets to the governor's desk, this bill should be vetoed.

Tribes love to remind the public that they are sovereign governments. It's true, but they operate like no other government in this state. Nontribal members have no standing with these governments, no rights to vote for tribal leaders or to share in tribal assets. Tribal governments are free to ignore state law and local regulations. And one more thing, they can hand out political contributions. Over the past decade, tribes have become the biggest political contributors in the state. No wonder so many politicians were in favor of this bad legislation."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Tribes shouldn't get vote power on government land-use panel (The Modesto Bee 8/21)

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