Legislator Pushing Gaming Initiative

A state senator who has received $1.3 million in campaign money from Indian tribes that own casinos is using his position to promote a ballot initiative that would permit unlimited expansion of tribal gambling.

Using his legislative stationery, Sen. Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) has written to 2 million Californians, urging that they sign a petition to place the initiative on the November ballot.

The message promises that the initiative would require that tribes pay “their fair share” of gambling profits to the state, and would protect voters’ towns from “Las Vegas-style gambling” because it would “ban new casinos which are not on Indian reservations.”

Current state and federal laws restrict Nevada-style gambling to tribal lands. But a competing initiative proposed for November would break tribes’ monopoly on Las Vegas-style betting by authorizing 30,000 slot machines at five horse tracks and 11 card rooms, mostly in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas.

“In the future,” says a Battin letter mailed to Westside residents, “you even could find Santa Monica threatened with big Las Vegas-style casinos!”

Tribes with casinos have given Battin’s campaign committees $1.3 million since 1998, making him one of the Legislature’s largest beneficiaries of tribal money during the past five or so years. Since 2000, tribes with gambling operations have accounted for 43% of his campaign money, state records show.

The Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians, owner of two large casinos in the Palm Springs area, is sponsoring the initiative that Battin is touting. The tribe, which has donated at least $363,080 to Battin since 1998, is pursuing expansion plans that include one or more additional casinos in the center of the desert city.

Letterhead Not Unusual

Battin said in an interview Tuesday that the use of his letterhead was not unusual: “That is political mail. That stuff goes out in every political campaign, either for races or initiatives. It doesn’t matter. It is perfectly legal to do, perfectly legitimate to do.”

The tribes’ donations did not influence his decision to sign the letter, Battin said: “I’m real clear on Indian gaming. I believe Indian gaming has been very beneficial to my district, to my constituency, to the economy of Riverside County and to the economy of the state of California.”

No law prohibits legislators from using letterheads to promote their undertakings, as long as the mailings are not done at public expense.

A notation at the bottom of the letter says it was not printed at taxpayers’ expense. The final line of the letter says, in fine print, that the Agua Caliente tribe is funding the initiative.

Still, Battin’s undertaking was criticized as an ethical breach.

“Any time a politician is so reliant on a single source of campaign funds, there are going to be questions,” said John Pitney Jr., a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a Republican. “In politics, as in investing, it is probably more prudent to have a diversified portfolio.”

Former Assembly Speaker and Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, a Democrat and a critic of expanded gambling, said, “Elected officials are expected to show some discretion when using their offices for dubious causes like this initiative.”

McCarthy, founder of the Center for Public Service and Common Good at the University of San Francisco, said Battin “perhaps should begin to understand the difference between working for the people of California and working for casinos.”

The proposed initiative would grant tribes a 99-year compact guaranteeing them the right to expand their casinos as they see fit on Indian land. In exchange, tribes would pay the equivalent of the corporate profits tax rate to the state -- 8.84% of net profits.

Tribes now pay about $130 million a year into two state funds, most of it earmarked for tribes that have small casinos or no gambling operations. Agreements negotiated by former Gov. Gray Davis in 1999 limit individual tribes to two casinos, and cap the number of slot machines at 2,000 per tribe.

Battin’s letter arrived in an envelope that featured a picture of the state Capitol, declares “Official State Document Enclosed,” and exhorts recipients with the words, “Immediate Response Required.”

“This proposition will get our state a fair share of revenue from Indian casinos, and protect against ever having casinos except in Indian reservations,” the letter says. It adds that tribes would pay “hundreds of millions of badly needed dollars” to an array of state programs such as “schools, affordable health care, emergency services, seniors -- and to reduce the pressure for tax increases.”

Critics of the measure note that tribes are not required to disclose information about their casino profits. And the initiative offers the state no authority to audit casino profits, or sue the tribes in state court if there is a dispute. The initiative does not earmark money for specific programs; the money would go into state coffers to be used as lawmakers and governors see fit.

Battin is backing the Agua Caliente initiative, he explained, because it would increase the tribes’ payments to the state. He also voiced support for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ongoing negotiations with tribes for payments of $500 million or more a year. Battin said he opposed an initiative proposed by card rooms and race tracks that would require tribes to pay the state 25% of their casino winnings, estimated at $4 billion to $6 billion. If tribes rejected that or any other terms of the measure, five horse tracks and 11 card rooms would divide 30,000 slot machines and pay 33% of their winnings to the state and local governments. Most of the money would go to education, law enforcement and fire services. That measure would draw casino customers from his Inland Empire district, Battin said.

Battin, 41, is running for reelection against Democrat Patricia Johansen; his district is considered to be safely Republican. One of Battin’s former aides, Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City), faces a well-financed challenge from Democrat Mary Ann Andreas, former chairwoman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which owns a large casino outside Palm Springs.

Constituents Surprised

Some Palm Springs residents were taken aback by their senator’s action.

“How dare he,” said Laverne Sprinkle, 66, a 14-year resident of Palm Springs who lives a block from Agua Caliente’s downtown casino. “He is not working with us. He is working for the tribes. I’m appalled. I didn’t think he would go that far.”

Bill Gonzales, a 47-year-old Palm Springs resident who is critical of the plans for an expanded casino, called Battin’s letter “sly” and “a lot of propaganda.’ ”

“He doesn’t listen to the concerns of the people it directly affects,” said Gonzales, who lives a short walk from Agua Caliente’s downtown casino. “He won’t write a letter to his constituents in Palm Springs, but he is writing to people in Santa Monica.”

The tribe must submit nearly 600,000 valid signatures of registered voters to the state by April 16 to place the measure on the November ballot. The tribe intends to obtain 1 million names. The Agua Caliente tribe spent $2 million this week to finance the signature-gathering effort. The overall cost could be $5 million, according to Gene Raper, the political consultant who is managing the initiative campaign.

Raper said he had asked the state senator to sign the letter because he hoped voters would believe he is an expert on such issues: “You’ve got a public official, somebody who understands the issues of taxation and regulation. There are few people in the Legislature who know more about Indian gaming than Jim Battin.”

Last year, Battin sought to establish a consulting firm to assist Indians, but abandoned it after The Times disclosed his plan.