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Stand Up for California! is a statewide organization with a focus on gambling issues including tribal gaming, card clubs, horse racing, charitable gaming and the state lottery. | |
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Nov. 4th, "We the People Speak"
Here's your chance to have a direct say about state spending10/2/2008, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO -- There has been a lot of screaming that Sacramento fails to live within its means, and the howlers are correct. But on Nov. 4, the voters will have their hands on the state checkbook. It's called ballot box budgeting -- when many Californians who normally cry about red ink become hypocrites, voting for nice-sounding proposals that further bloat the overspending. On election day, voters will have an opportunity to jack up annual state spending by at least $1.5 billion, based on numbers produced by the nonpartisan legislative analyst for the official voter information guide. | |
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Ban on "ILLEGAL Bingo Machines"
Ban on electronic bingo machines will cripple fundraising, charities say
10/2/2008, The Sacramento Bee
"It's the end of the line for us. The paper (bingo) doesn't pencil out," said Doug Bergman, president and chief executive officer of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Sacramento. Over the years, charities supporting numerous high school sports, local bands, homeless teen centers, senior programs, and a program that helps the disabled all have paid for their endeavors through bingo halls. But in recent years, as the bingo population has aged and others turned to Indian casinos, local bingo halls and the charities they fund had turned to electronic bingo. Senate Bill 1369, a "gut-and-amend" bill that came in the final days of the legislative session, was the product of a compromise between Indian gambling tribes and large charities like the Catholic Church. The church wanted the change because its games were losing customers to Indian casinos in recent years.
State pulls the plug on non-Indian bingo machines10/2/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
SACRAMENTO - Delivering a big victory for gaming tribes and the Catholic Church, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation that outlaws non-Indian bingo machines while authorizing high-stakes bingo for charities and nonprofits. Within perhaps a year, the Catholic Church and other charities could be offering simulcast bingo games with thousands of players competing for prizes of up to six figures. The compromise will force another group of charities and nonprofits to give up electronic bingo machines, unless manufacturers can find relief in court. "There are some people talking today about what the next steps are," said Doug Bergman, president of United Cerebral Palsy of Sacramento, which nets more than $200,000 a year from bingo machines. "I'm hoping there's going to be further litigation."
Schwarzenegger signs bingo ban10/1/2008, The Sacramento Bee
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger late Tuesday signed last-minute legislation that bans electronic bingo machines but allows large charities to run "remote caller" bingo games, which joins multiple sites into one contest. Senate Bill 1369, a "gut-and-amend" bill that came in the final days of legislative session, was the product of a compromise between Indian gambling tribes and large charities such as the Catholic Church. The charities wanted the change because they said their games were losing customers to Indian casinos in recent years, while the tribes sought to end electronic bingo, which they saw as an encroachment on their exclusive right to operate slot machines in California.
Local Payments as Agreed
Tribe makes casino-impact payment to Yolo County10/1/2008, The Sacramento Bee
A portion of a local Indian tribe's multi million-dollar payment to Yolo County is available to people and businesses affected by Cache Creek Casino's expansion, beginning today. The county received $5.16 million from the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians during the Board of Supervisors' meeting Tuesday. The annual payment is stipulated by a memorandum of understanding between the tribe and county, which has been in place since the tribe began gaming, said Kevin Slagle, a spokesman for the tribe. The tribe owns and operates the casino in Brooks and other enterprises in the Capay Valley
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Realistic Demographics Needed:
Little change in poverty, employment in CA tribes since gaming started
10/2/2008, Capitol Weekly
Numbers just released by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) suggest that poverty and unemployment among California Indian tribes remain largely unchanged years after the state legalized Indian gaming. However, many say these numbers don't reflect tribal wealth that has been shared via infrastructure improvements, job training, scholarships, after-school programs and other services. The BIA released the new data with an interesting caveat: They're looking for help in improving their own numbers. The BIA says reporting from some tribes across the country has been spotty - an opinion echoed by some who work with tribes - and they are creating a training program to help make sure that tribes report accurate data. The BIA has issued the American Indian Population & Labor Force Report for every odd-numbered year since 1985. These data are the most comprehensive look at the population and financial health of tribal members available.
Assertion of authority beyond their limits?
NIGC reconsiders Fort Sill Apache casino case10/2/2008, National Indian Gaming Commission
The National Indian Gaming Commission is reconsidering an opinion that said the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma couldn't open a casino on ancestral land in New Mexico. A May 19 memorandum from the agency's top attorney said the 30-acre site in southern New Mexico did not qualify for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The land was taken into trust after 1988 and doesn't meet any of IGRA's exceptions, according to the opinion.
US Senate - Internet Poker Bill
Senate bill proposes licensing Internet poker10/1/2008, Poker Listings.com
In a bold move, the Senate will be the new battleground for the debate over the future of Internet poker in the United States. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has introduced S.B. 3616, the Internet Skill Games Licensing and Control Act of 2008, which seeks to license Internet poker sites, and other gaming Web sites featuring skill-based games. If passed, this bill would provide what the poker community has been seeking ever since the passage in 2006 of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act - clear language that Internet poker is permitted in the United States and that U.S. financial institutions may conduct business with those sites. The focus of the bill is to clarify what poker players have believed all along - that poker is a game of skill, and that the government may license and regulate it over the Internet, but not try to ban it.
Upcoming Conference INDIAN COUNTRY'S WINNING HAND, October 16-17, 2008, Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino Scottsdale/Fountian Hills, Arizona. Register online: www.law.asu.edu/ilp
LINKS and Legislation
Stand Up For California - Library
Stand Up For California - Helpful Links
Compulsive Gambling Institute www.gamblingaddiction.cc 1-800-GAMBLER 24 Hour Problem Gambling Help Line - Tom Tucker, Chief Executive Officer
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