Time for a new deal on gambling

DISPLAYING his political muscle, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger got a Southern California Indian tribe to stop operating video lottery terminals at its casino last week, a move that likely avoided a long and costly legal battle. But it was just one small step in the state's need to get a grip on the wildly expanding gambling industry. The governor has wisely tried to wrest a greater share of the take from the existing Indian casinos throughout the state by renegotiating nine gaming compacts with tribes last year. But his willingness to grant eye-raising numbers of additional slot machines for a few of the casinos has only encouraged some tribes to push to raise the slot limits and others to try to cash in on the gambling fever by getting approval for new casinos. Schwarzenegger's ill-advised plan to allow one tribe to build a mammoth 5, 000-slot casino along Interstate 80 in San Pablo last year -- which would have effectively brought Las Vegas-style gambling to urban areas -- set off alarms in the Legislature, which rightly tabled the proposal. Yet, as attempts by tribes to build casinos in Richmond, Oakland and elsewhere indicate, the governor's willingness to approve new compacts has blurred the expectation that Indian gaming would be limited in scope and located primarily in rural areas. At a hearing last month, Oakland residents gathered to tell the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs that they are adamantly opposed to a planned casino- and-hotel complex near the Oakland Airport. Their furor underscored the continuing friction between politicians and community leaders over seemingly endless casino expansion. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, like many other elected officials, supports the casino because it would be a quick fix for the city's financial troubles. But there is a rising chorus from across the state protesting that the negative impacts of the casinos, ranging from an increase in crime, transportation concerns and environmental problems, outweigh any municipal benefits. Indeed, the glitzy casino plans being pitched around the bay would bring more than a hint of Las Vegas to East Bay shores. The gambling halls, as proposed, would dwarf some of the biggest casinos on The Strip. Moreover, the tribes pushing the casinos do not necessarily have any ancestral claims to the lands they want to build on -- the ideal site, rather, is in cities with well-documented budget woes. What better way to cover over gaping city budget deficits than with promises of millions of gaming dollars and thousands of new jobs? There has already been a partial backlash -- voters rejected two statewide ballot initiatives that would have allowed an explosion of new casinos in California. But that was last year and the tribes aren't going to stop pushing the legal limits of the state's fastest-growing industry. This year, the Legislature has a chance to stop rolling the dice on gambling expansion, thanks to a proposed constitutional amendment by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, that would require a 60-day review period before lawmakers ratify any future gambling compacts. But the governor needs to show that, even with a cash-starved state, he is not willing to ignore the voters' desire to slow the explosion of Indian casino gaming and turn California into Nevada West.