Indian casino battle waged at panel meeting

SAN DIEGO --- A high-stakes battle over gambling between California Indian tribes and Nevada casinos has taken center stage at the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

Tribal leaders Tuesday testified about the merits of the Indian Self-Reliance Initiative (Proposition 5) before a subcommittee of the federal panel. More were to address the full nine-member commission today, as it convened its fourth meeting outside Washington this year.

The commission has been examining the social and economic impact of gambling across America since last summer. It is expected to file a report with Congress next June.

Tribal leaders contend the initiative, which would make it easier to build Las Vegas style casinos on reservations, is the key to the economic survival of Native Americans in California. The initiative would allow California tribes to get into gaming without signing an agreement with the state.

"The Indian people of California have suffered, mostly invisibly, for nearly 150 years," said Daniel Tucker, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. "Our reservations tended to be islands of poverty and third-world living standards in the midst of abundance and prosperity, and there was little or no prospect of change."

But today, Tucker said, gaming has allowed the tribes to enter a "new world that replaces welfare dependency with full employment and self-sufficiency."

The tribes are spending millions pushing the initiative, which goes before California voters in November. Las Vegas casinos are leading a coalition of special interests, including organized labor and Hollywood entertainment firms, opposing the campaign.

Las Vegas casinos, which rely on a heavy tourist flow from Southern California, fear an explosion of Indian gaming in California could cripple Nevada's economy.

Both sides are expected to spend as much as $75 million before election day in one of the most costly initiatives in California history. The tribes have been hitting Las Vegas casinos over California's television airwaves for several weeks now.

The Las Vegas-influenced anti-initiative forces, which planned a news conference today, have found an unlikely ally in the Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.

"If Proposition 5 passes, it will put a body blow on Las Vegas that will have tremendous implications nationwide to gambling," Grey said.

Grey said his national grassroots organizations will work against the initiative, but won't officially join forces with the Las Vegas coalition. Grey has been fighting Las Vegas gaming companies in other states for several years.

John Wilhelm, incoming president of the international Culinary Union, also is opposed to Proposition 5.

Wilhelm, a member of the federal commission's Indian subcommittee, said his union is concerned the initiative doesn't protect the rights of workers in Indian casinos.

"Tribal casino employees, not only in California, but throughout the country, exist in a sort of legal no-man's land," Wilhelm said.

The Culinary Union has other reasons to weigh in on the side of Las Vegas casinos.

Culinary Workers Local 226 has become the largest and most influential union in Nevada, representing 45,000 Las Vegas casino workers.

Tucker said tribal gaming in California has created 50,000 jobs and generated $120 million each year in state and local taxes.

"Indian gaming is an economic engine that is allowing tribes to pull their own weight and pay their own way," Tucker said.

He accused "giant Las Vegas gaming interests" of working to destroy that livelihood.

"In the end," Tucker added, Indian gaming is about the ability to support ourselves and our ability to provide a future for our children."

archive