Casino Battle Taken to Television

An apparent rift among California Indians opened Monday as dueling tribal casino interests unveiled broadcast ads alternately touting and criticizing gambling deals that some of the groups have signed with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The ads, set to start airing today, use similar tactics -- tribal leaders appearing against rural backdrops, saying they are offering Californians a “fair share” of tribes’ gambling profits.

But one ad supports pacts Schwarzenegger signed in June with five tribes permitting them an unlimited number of slot machines if they pay the state roughly 15% of their casino profits. The other ad endorses the rival Proposition 70, a November ballot initiative that would allow unlimited casino expansion on tribes’ land if they pay the state 8.84% of their net profits, the same rate that California corporations pay.

The Southern California tribes backing Proposition 70 made the richest ad purchase of the year, a $30-million blitz, for an average of $5 million a week leading up to the Nov. 2 election day. The spot is financed by the Agua Caliente and San Manuel bands of Indians, owners of casinos in Palm Springs and outside San Bernardino, respectively.

The commercial takes a swipe at gambling deals Schwarzenegger struck with nine other tribes, saying that most California tribes already had compacts, but that “suddenly, the state has new deals with just a few tribes.” Former Gov. Gray Davis signed compacts with dozens of tribes, and voters ratified them in 2000.

“Proposition 70 would be better for California,” the spot says, adding that the state would receive more money if the initiative passed than it would under Schwarzenegger’s agreements -- a claim disputed by backers of the governor’s compacts.

In their ad, five tribes that signed deals with Schwarzenegger in June say they ensure that tribes would be “giving the state a billion dollars this year, and millions more in the future.”

The ads hit the airwaves as racetracks and card clubs are spending heavily on ads favoring Proposition 68, an initiative they are backing that would give them 30,000 slot machines, breaking tribes’ monopoly on the lucrative devices. Tribes seeking to maintain Indians’ exclusive right to Nevada-style gambling in California are airing ads warning that 68 would lead to more gambling in urban areas.

Altogether, gambling interests are expected to spend about $10 million on broadcast ads this week. That would make the fight over California’s gambling future the year’s costliest state campaign. Reports filed with the secretary of state show that gambling interests have amassed $75 million for the initiative fight -- with more checks arriving almost daily.

A new trade group, the California Tribal Business Alliance, is paying for the ads supporting the Schwarzenegger deals. Four of the group’s six members are among the state’s biggest casino owners -- the Rumsey Band and United Auburn Indian Community in the Sacramento area, and the Pala and Viejas bands in San Diego County.

The scripts of the opening ads suggest a rift is developing among the tribes, said Jack Pitney, government professor at Claremont McKenna College. “There doesn’t seem to be a totally united position,” he said.

Representatives of several tribes, including backers of Proposition 70, have criticized the Schwarzenegger compacts, saying the Republican governor is demanding concessions that erode tribes’ right to govern their own affairs. The Republican governor insisted, for example, that tribes make it easier for unions to organize casino workers.

“The governor has put nothing on the table that is acceptable to the remaining tribes,” said Gene Raper, consultant to the Proposition 70 campaign. “Proposition 70 is clearly something that the majority of tribes support.”

Backers of the measure say that if it passed and all tribes signed on, the state could receive $500 million annually.

The five tribes that signed with Schwarzenegger promised to pay the state $1 billion this year and up to $150 million in coming years. Backers of those compacts say their deals help guarantee the signatories’ long-term stability.

Attorney Howard Dickstein, who helped negotiate the compacts for the Rumsey, United Auburn and Pala, said the tribes entered the deals in part to ensure “that the state has an interest in protecting and enhancing Indian gaming.”

“They provide basis for successful partnerships, which are essential for this or any other business,” Dickstein said.

Proposition 68 would require that tribes pay 25% of their casino net profits to local government. If tribes balked at that or any other provision of the initiative, five racetracks and 11 card rooms would split 30,000 slot machines and pay local government a third of their winnings, or about $1 billion annually.

Schwarzenegger opposes Propositions 68 and 70, but has reported raising only $250,000 to defeat them. While tribes are spending heavily to defeat Proposition 68, no moneyed interest has offered significant sums to oppose Proposition 70. Representatives of the tribes that have Schwarzenegger compacts made a point Monday of saying they are not spending to defeat their fellow tribes’ measure -- at least for now.

“Our clients are singularly focused on burying Proposition 68,” attorney Dickstein said. “It is 4 feet under now. We will turn our attention to other issues when it drops 2 more feet.”

The new trade group is represented by Dan Schnur, a Republican who worked for Gov. Pete Wilson, and Garry South, a Democrat who was Davis’ main consultant. Davis’ deals limited to 2,000 the number of slot machines that individual tribes could own and required that they pay about $130 million a year to funds to aid local government and tribes that have little or no gambling operations.

“We recognize that these ads are going to be seen in a certain context, because they’re running in a campaign,” said Schnur. “But this organization’s goals have much less to do with any ... election than with the broader goal of working in partnership with the state