Casino law would call for voters' OK

<p>Assemblyman Jared Huffman, an opponent of the Indian casino planned in Rohnert Park, plans to introduce legislation intended to make it tougher for such projects to be built without local approval.</p><p>The bill authored by Huffman, D-San Rafael, would require a tribe with newly acquired land to have its compact for gaming approved by voters in the county where the casino would be located.</p><p>The tribe could conduct gaming without voter approval, but only if it reaches an agreement with the county and even surrounding cities to offset casino impacts such as traffic, crime, greenhouse gas emissions and groundwater depletion.</p><p>"It is important that the Legislature not approve compacts for gaming if the residents, businesses and governments in the area do not support having a massive Las Vegas-style casino in their community," Huffman said. "And it is just as important that these compacts not be approved unless the negative impacts of a casino development are completely mitigated."</p><p>Compacts are required before casinos can open and determine things such as how many slot machines are allowed and how much revenue will be shared with the state.</p><p>Huffman said he expects to get plenty of support for his bill when he introduces it next month, when the Legislature reconvenes. But some legal experts, as well as an Indian casino critic, were pessimistic about its chances for passage, or that it would work as intended.</p><p>"While it has good intentions -- to prevent or stop a casino -- there's a downside of unintended consequences," said Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand Up for California.</p><p>She said a tribe could decide to open a casino with gambling that does not require state approval, like the Lytton Band of Pomo did at the San Pablo Casino with electronic bingo machines that resemble slots.</p><p>Attorneys who deal with Indian law and gaming also said Huffman's bill could backfire.</p><p>"The lawyers will feed off it like sharks on chum," said Tom Gede, a former special policy adviser on Indian issues in the state Attorney General's Office.</p><p>He noted that federal law requires the state to negotiate "in good faith" with a tribe that is eligible for Class III, or Las Vegas-style gaming.</p><p>If the governor agreed to the compact and the county or city disapproved it, the tribe might file a lawsuit claiming the state failed to complete the contract in good faith, according to Gede, who also teaches federal Indian gaming law at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.</p><p>And if there is a lawsuit, he said, it likely would be handled by a mediator who could impose the "last best offer" between the tribe and state --- essentially allowing the tribe to conduct its gaming regardless of what local voters have to say.</p><p>"What the bill does is add a layer which can still be bypassed under federal law," he said.</p><p>Howard Dickstein, a Sacramento attorney who represents Indian tribes, agreed Huffman's bill may not work as intended. "No state legislation that impacts Indian gaming is free of federal legal entanglements," he said. He added, "You can't stop all gaming by stopping a compact -- you saw San Pablo."</p><p>Huffman said while his bill is motivated by his opposition to the Rohnert Park casino, its focus is on "the scourge of off-reservation, urban casinos."</p><p>The Graton tribe had 254 acres next to Rohnert Park accepted into federal trust in May, but has not yet obtained a gaming compact.</p><p>Greg Sarris, tribal chairman for the Graton Rancheria, declined to be comment Tuesday on Huffman's bill.</p><p>The proposed legislation would require any tribe with land taken into trust after Jan. 1, 2008, to have its gaming compact approved by voters of the county before it is effective.</p><p>Absent voter approval, the compact could be ratified if the tribe and certain cities and counties have approved intergovernmental agreements with the tribe that offset casino impacts.</p><p>The draft language in Huffman's bill indicates a tribe could be required to reach separate agreements to offset impacts with nearby cities as well as counties within 75 miles of a proposed gaming facility.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com.</p>