California Statewide Law Enforcement Association – Yes On Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97

A commentary on Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97 by Alan Wayne Barcelona of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association.

These days, one of the greatest threats to the public’s safety is our state’s budget crisis. It can jeopardize funding for all manner of police, fire and emergency protection services in communities throughout the state.

Faced with a $14.5 billion deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he may have no choice but to release tens of thousands of prisoners early. He is declaring a “fiscal emergency” and is proposing major cuts in state services to try to close the budget gap.

With this daunting fiscal crisis as a backdrop, voters are being asked to approve four ballot measures — Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97 — that will provide real help for our state’s budget woes. The California Statewide Law Enforcement Association is urging Californians to vote yes on all four.

Voting yes on these important measures will ratify four Indian gaming agreements that will provide hundreds of millions of dollars in vitally needed new state revenues each year.

During the next two decades, these agreements will give California more than $9 billion to help balance the state budget and pay for public safety, education and other services statewide — without increasing taxes.

Peace officers throughout California are supporting these measures because the revenue from these Indian gaming agreements will help us do our jobs.

We are the ones that close down illegal drug labs and analyze DNA evidence to put child molesters, murderers and sex offenders behind bars. We answer emergency 911 calls and pull tired swimmers from the surf.

We find lost hikers and guard against consumer rip-offs. We investigate arson, bombings and elder abuse. We patrol the skies and California parks, protecting people, wildlife and the environment. And, we’re the first to respond to fires, floods, riots and earthquakes. When there’s danger, we’re the first ones on the scene.

These Indian gaming agreements were already negotiated by the governor and approved by bipartisan majorities of the Legislature in 2007. A yes vote on these four propositions will simply preserve the agreements the governor negotiated and protect the revenues they provide.

Under these agreements, four Southern California tribes will pay a much higher percentage of their gaming revenues to the state.

The four tribes will be authorized to add a limited number of new slot machines on their existing tribal lands in Riverside and San Diego counties. In return, these four tribes will pay up to 25 percent of the revenues from these machines to the state to help support essential public services in communities throughout California.

The agreements will lead to thousands of new jobs for Indians and non-Indians. They will strengthen state oversight of tribal gaming and create important new protections for the environment for gaming-related projects.

The agreements also will increase cooperation between the tribes and local government as well as provide financing for local infrastructure, police, fire and other vital public services.

Importantly, the agreements also provide tens of millions of dollars to tribes throughout California that have limited or no gaming. That’s why Native American tribes throughout the state support Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97.

A broad coalition is backing these four measures, including the governor, fire and law enforcement groups, seniors, taxpayer associations, business and labor and hundreds of organizations throughout the state.

By contrast, two rival tribes and a big Las Vegas casino owner who don’t want competition are bankrolling the effort to repeal the Indian gaming agreements. If they get their way, the agreements will be canceled and our state will lose billions of dollars in critically needed new revenues.

Join us in voting yes for Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97. Your yes votes will help the state pay its bills — and that’s good for public safety.

Alan Wayne Barcelona is the president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, an organization representing more than 7,000 public safety professionals in the state.

Link:
http://tracypress.com/content/view/13036/2244