Aqua Caliente File Suit Against Secretary Of State Debra Bowen

Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, filed suit last month against California Secretary Of State Debra Bowen to stop her from certifying a voter referendum targeting its casino-expansion deal with the state contending that letting opponents of the agreement qualify a referendum measure for the February ballot would be illegal.

This marks the first time that a tribe has declared that its compact is immune to referendum challenges. This action opens a second legal front over the amended compacts. The leaders of the Pechanga and Morongo bands filed their own suits last month. They allege that opponents of the deals failed to make the deadline to turn in signatures to qualify referendum measures for the ballot.

The suits are scheduled for hearings this month.

A spokeswoman for Bowen said Friday the office is still reviewing the Agua Caliente suit and had no comment.

A spokesman for compact opponents said the Agua Caliente suit is another example of successful tribes misusing the legal process.
"We think they're willing to take every effort to deny the public they right to vote on these sweetheart deals," said Al Lundeen, a spokesman for No on the Unfair Gambling Deals.

Milanovich's suit contends that referendum measures can be used only with "legislative acts." The Legislature's ratification of a tribal-state compact "is but an expression of the assent of the state to a proposed amendment" and not a normal bill subject to referendum.

In addition, the suit argues, the amended compact is in the same class as tax and appropriation bills that the constitution exempts from voter referendum measures. That is because the agreement would generate up to $81 million in annual payments to the state.
Finally, the suit contends that opponents of the agreement used flawed petitions to gather voter signatures to qualify the referendum measure. The paperwork included just the parts of the tribe's 1999 compact being changed and, the suit alleges, wrongly left out the parts of the compact staying the same.

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