"Last fall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unexpectedly announced, immediately before the Legislature recessed for the November elections, that he had signed new compacts with five tribes. The tribes - the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians - all operate casinos with up to 2,000 slot machines, earning $200 million to $425 million, or more, each. These new compacts allowed the tribes to add up to 5,500 additional slot machines, in return for sharing up to 25% of gaming revenue with the state.

So, if a tribe wanted, it could open a casino with 7,500 slot machines and an unlimited number of table games, twice as large as the largest casino in Las Vegas.

It was a brilliant political move. Schwarzenegger, a Republican up for reelection, forced the Democrats, who controlled the State Legislature, to decide who they would alienate: the politically powerful tribes or the party's traditional allies, the state's unions. For these compacts did not contain provisions the unions wanted that would allow casino workers to easily organize.

The unions and other opponents also claimed the compacts did not provide enough regulation. But legislators could not amend the compacts; they could only vote them up or down.

The Democrats punted. They put off the vote on approving these compacts until after the elections, on the grounds that they could not decide this important issue in only a few days.

It didn't work - the tribes saw this as siding with the unions. They gave millions of dollars to Republican candidates, including Schwarzenegger. The Governor was reelected by such a large majority that I cannot even remember his Democratic opponent's name."

Get the Story:
I. Nelson Rose: Californians Will Vote, Again, on Compacts (Casino City Times 2/9)