Tribes, Democrats Agree on MOA's

All but one of the 5 tribes seeking amended compacts have embraced an accord with Assembly Democrats whereby the issues of casino operating standards and workers' compensation will be dealt with using a “memorandum of agreement”.

A 5 page MOA, signed June 21 by Danny Tucker, chairman of the Sycuan band of El Cajon. chairman of the Sycuan band of El Cajon and a similar one signed by Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro appear to be awaiting the signature of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been in Europe since Saturday. Schwarzenegger was scheduled to return to the Capitol today. The governor's attorneys have been involved in developing the side agreements and reportedly have signed off on them. In addition to Sycuan and Pechanga of Temecula, the pending compacts were negotiated by Agua Caliente of Palm Springs, Morongo of Riverside County and San Manuel of San Bernardino County.

Only the San Manuel have not agreed to the basic terms of the side deals. Jerry Paresa, a legislative liaison for San Manuel, confirmed that the tribe has not agreed to any side deal. “San Manuel believes that it successfully completed its negotiations with the governor last August,” Paresa said. “The governor is not calling for these side agreements, nor did the Senate when it voted these compacts through. I think at the end of the day, this is not only unprecedented, but it undermines the position of the governor” to negotiate tribal gaming agreements. San Manuel is the only one of the five big tribes that has a union contract and had been given a green light by the state's labor establishment.

Labor has pressured the Assembly to insert into the compacts new language to allow for “card-check” to make it easier for the Unions to organize. The pending memorandums of agreement do not contain any new labor language.

Despite the signed documents, Torrico and a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland, cautioned that they may still be a work in progress. “All I can tell you is we are continuing our discussion and we have not reached a resolution,” Torrico said.

But Sycuan's Tucker said his tribe is ready to move on. “The tribe was willing to sign a binding agreement with the state covering these issues, in large measure because the matters covered in the agreement have been standard practice for our tribe, in some cases for many years,” Tucker said in a statement. “We look forward to the prompt ratification of our amended compact.”

Pechanga's Macarro also confirmed his tribe had concluded negotiations with the Assembly. “Pechanga has signed a memorandum of agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that addresses issues of mutual concern,” Macarro said in a statement.

The memorandums of agreement are expected to move in a separate bill that will start in the Senate, perhaps as early as tomorrow where enforceability of the documents, which are not amendments to the tribes' compacts, will be the debate.

Sycuan's MOA says the tribe agrees to the following:

· Maintain and implement minimum internal control standards “that are no less stringent” than those established and enforced by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

· Continue to require that its casino employees comply with court orders pertaining to child, family and spousal support.

· Submit copies of its workers' compensation policy and procedures to the state, if the tribe does not participate in the state system.

· Provide to the state a copy of its annual financial audit as well as a copy of audits submitted to the national commission.

· Any disputes involving terms of the agreement would first be subject to a “meet and confer” process. After that, both sides would submit to binding arbitration before a retired judge.

This last item is a sticking point for the opponents of the compacts saying that federal law requires any such agreement to be negotiated and contained in tribal-state compacts. “This is still nothing more than unenforceable promises,” said Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up for California, a gambling watchdog group. “The compliance is not enforceable. It obligates the state to first litigate in federal court and the court will dismiss it because it has no jurisdiction over this agreement.” The state could then go to a state court, but the delay could be months, Schmit and others warned.

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