Tribal gambling pact may cause slot machine boom

The number of slots statewide would nearly quintuple from 21,000 to 113,000, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill said Tuesday.

That would give California the second largest number of slot machines in the nation after Nevada, which has about 200,000 machines.

The announcement comes as Indian tribes and Davis prepare to campaign for ratification of the September gambling compact.

The Davis administration refuted Hill's estimate, saying the agreement would only increase the number of slot machines to about 43,000.

"I don't know how she's doing her math. It doesn't sound like the numbers that were discussed," Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante said.

Hill issued her analysis after gambling opponent Assemblyman Bruce Thompson, R-Fallbrook, questioned the deal.

"Our best estimate is that the compact would allow about 113,000 machines statewide," Hill wrote. "We caution you, however, that different interpretations of the language in the compact could result in significantly different totals."

Voters must approve a constitutional amendment known as Proposition 1-A on the March ballot before tribes can expand their casinos.

The proposition would grant tribes monopoly rights to operate slot machines and other Nevada-style games that are restricted in California.

Davis has repeatedly said he only wants a modest increase in legal gambling in California.

However, former California Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, who has studied the nationwide impact of gambling for the U.S. Senate, said the expansion could double the number of "problem and pathological gamblers" in California to 1.4 million.

Meantime, revenue to the tribes could rise to as much as $3 billion annually, he added.

"These proposals - the constitutional amendment and the compact - move California toward adopting Nevada's gambling culture," McCarthy said.

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