Compacts Stalled - Oversight is Key

The loss of federal oversight has become the main stumbling block for the amended compacts which have stalled in the State Assembly. Earlier this month, in an effort to counter Assembly Democrats who say the pending gambling agreements must be reopened to address the loss of federal guidelines, attorneys for the governor and the California Gambling Commission told an Assembly committee that the state could fill any regulatory void under the 1999 compacts. “We determined that all of the compacts provide the commission with ample oversight authority and access related to tribal (internal standards),” Commission Chairman Dean Shelton told the Governmental Organization Committee. “This includes the authority to review tribes' gaming facilities and inspect related gaming operations or . . . records.” The administration also has supported a move by the state gambling commission and some tribes with pending compacts to develop a statewide regulation to require casino standards at least as stringent as the federal rules. However, the proposal has drawn a cool response from many of California's more than 60 gaming tribes. But Shelton said the commission could adopt and enforce the proposed statewide regulation on internal standards even if most tribes reject it

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, Chairman of the Governmental Organization Committee isn’t convinced and noted that just last year, the commission had lamented the state's “limited compact authority” in its request for a budget increase. “Either we're serious about coming up with a statewide solution or . . . we're going to admit here publicly we don't care, there is no federal regulation, we have these compacts pending,” Torrico said. “Let the chips fall where they may.”

There is a lot of concern about things we believe are already in place,” said Nancy Conrad, a spokeswoman for Agua Caliente. “We believe the regulatory oversight is there.”

George Forman, a prominent tribal attorney who represents both Sycuan and Morongo, said that despite widespread criticism of the 1999 compact, “The state did not leave itself defenseless and paralyzed.” He said the state has the ability under the compact “to ensure that tribes adhere to (minimum standards) consistent with those mandated by the National Indian Gaming Commission.”

I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor who specializes in gambling law, said the state lacks clear authority to conduct broad audits of tribal casinos. He also recalled tribes' efforts to squeeze the gambling commission's early budgets. “You can't regulate if your budget is dependent on the whims of politicians who are subject to political pressure from the tribes,” he said.

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