Assemblyman plans casino bill

The Assembly member representing the North Bay intends to introduce a constitutional amendment this year that would require either local voter approval of casinos or an intergovernmental agreement between the state and the immediate area involved to offset environmental impacts.

“I’m committed to moving the bill this year, and am optimistic that it will get to the governor’s desk,” said Assemblymember Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.

Huffman says he also plans to collaborate with Sen. Dianne Feinstein on legislative efforts regarding Native-American casinos.

“I’ve talked with her, and know that she is interested in the proliferation of off-reservation gaming. I want to work with her to make progress on a federal level,” Huffman said, adding that it is too early to pinpoint the areas of their future collaborative efforts.

Huffman feels that a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2008 could have a significant impact on proposed state casinos. In the ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot place into trust 31 acres owned by the Narragansett Indian tribe in Rhode Island.

This tribe bought the land in 1991 and seven years later, the U.S. Department of the Interior agreed to take it into trust, thereby exempting it from many state laws. The state, concerned that the tribe would be able to open a casino or tax-free business on the land, went to court over the decision.

The Supreme Court, in a split decision, decided that the tribe could not remove its land from state control because it was not federally recognized until after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which was federal legislation that secured certain rights of Native-Americans.

“I think that in response to this decision, Congress will do some clean-up legislation on casino matters,” Huffman said.

But it is unclear if the decision will directly affect the proposed Rohnert Park casino.

The background information contained in an amended lawsuit filed by attorney Stephan Volker this year on behalf of the Stop the Casino 101 Coalition, as well as 12 of its members, states that contrary to claims by the tribe, historically the Graton Rancheria was not a reservation, was never held in trust and that there never was a tribe there. The suit claims that when the Graton Rancheria was created in 1920, it was not public land, but rather private land governed by the state of California.

Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria leaders, on the other hand, state that in 1920, the federal government authorized the purchase of a 15 1/2-acre parcel in the town of Graton for the collective benefit of the so-called homeless Indians of Bodega, Tomales, Marshall, Sebastopol and nearby areas. Tribal leaders contend that the land subsequently was purchased and placed into federal trust status, thereby establishing the “Graton Rancheria” as a homeland for the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo, and resulting in their de facto recognition by the federal government.

(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)