Rich, politically powerful Indian tribes are pushingCalifornia legislators to outlaw some casino competition: slot-like bingo machines that generate millions of dollars for high school sports teams, the blind and disabled.
The Assembly on Wednesday voted 56 to 3 to ban the electronic machines, which tribes say violate their exclusive right to operate slot machines in California. The Senate is expected to pass the measure soon.
The proposed ban was written only two weeks ago -- months after the deadline for introducing legislation. State Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) gutted a bill about school lunches and inserted the bingo measure.
Few interest groups could pull off such a coup in the waning days of the legislative session, which ends at midnight Sunday. But the tribes are among the biggest political donors to state lawmakers.
And the tribes are business partners with the cash-starved state, which depends upon payments of more than $100 million a year from them to ease its budget problems. Some tribes have been threatening to withhold money if the state does nothing to restrict the bingo machines.
Officials of the small charities that depend on the machines say they are being put out of business by a political juggernaut.
For the complete story, please see Nancy Vogel California tribes seek to ban slot-like bingo machines
, Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2008.
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