Thread: Current Events in California

The fallout is continuing from a federal appellate court’s decision late last year that the National Indian Gaming Commission lacks jurisdiction to regulate Class III Indian gaming. The case’s true impacts remain unclear, but in California, it appears to have thrown into question the pending approval of recently renegotiated gaming compact between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and five of the state’s more successful gaming tribes.

Although the deals met their last-minute demise at the end of the legislative session, they were to be reintroduced in the coming months. Pursuant to the court decision, some tribes have indicated they won’t allow the NIGC’s regulators into tribal casinos. The Schwarzenegger administration is being pressured to ensure additional regulatory safeguards are in put in place before the compacts are sent up for legislative approval. This spells “renegotiation” yet again.

Tribal representatives remind California policymakers that they can, and do, regulate their own casino operations, as the state has agreed. “Also, the NIGC is not the only federal agency that oversees tribal gaming,” wrote California Indian Gaming Association Chairman Anthony Miranda. “For the record, tribal gaming is also overseen by several other federal entities, such as the Department of Justice, the IRS, the FBI, the U.S. attorneys and the Treasury Department.”

Some tribes indicate they’ll continue to welcome federal regulators. "We just think that it's good business for our patrons to feel comfortable that they're playing games that are fair and honest," said Alison Harvey, spokeswoman for the California Tribal Business Alliance.

Court decisions have real-world political and policy impacts. California continues to prove it.