Indian Gambling Going Back on Ballot

The Indian gambling issue will go before voters once again in March 2000.

A referendum backed by a Southern California tribe seeking to overturn a gambling compact between the governor and 11 other tribes has qualified for the next election ballot, the secretary of state said Friday.

Proposition 5, if it withstands court challenges, also would overturn the so-called Pala Compact. Voters approved the proposition last month by nearly a two-thirds majority.

The Pala Compact, reached last spring between the Pala Band of San Diego County and Gov. Pete Wilson and signed by 10 other tribes, limits the kinds of electronic gambling machines at Indian casinos.

The referendum, sponsored by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of Palm Springs, specifically blocks implementation of a law passed by the Legislature last August that ratified the compact with the 11 tribes.

The qualification of the referendum means the law cannot take effect until the election is held March 7, 2000.

Proposition 5 was backed by more than 80 tribes, including the Agua Caliente Band. It attempts to allow the tribes to continue using Nevada-style video slot machines deemed illegal by Wilson and to force the governor to sign gaming compacts written by the tribes.

The proposition is now before the state Supreme Court, which is considering two lawsuits challenging it. Prosperous gambling tribes backing the initiative and Nevada casinos opposing it spent nearly $100 million on the ballot measure.

A referendum allows voters to decide if a specific bill passed by the Legislature should be allowed to become law.