In the southernmost states of the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast the opinions of the governors on gambling are well known. Whilst Jeb Bush in Florida attempts to alter what voters decided in Broward County, in California Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued a Proclamation. The legal document sets out the Governor’s policy on certain matters to do with tribal gaming in the state.

To an outsider the whole issue of tribal gaming and land-into-trust is largely incomprehensible. Even the Bureau of Indian Affairs is unsure how many land-into-trust applications are pending, and how many are applications under Section 20 which deals with exceptions to the rule. The whole process is lengthy and cumbersome, and usually concerns tribal recognition and tribal gaming aspirations.

At present in Florida the tribal casinos are permitted to operate Class II machines, although after the Broward vote this may change if Governor Bush fails to get his way. In California, overwhelming public support for the tribes in 2000 changed the state constitution and Class III machines were approved. Florida has relatively few federally recognized Indian tribes but California has over 100, and many are eligible for Class III gaming. In 1999 compacts with 57 tribes were ratified.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s Proclamation states that an increasing number of Indian tribes are seeking to take land-into-trust for purposes of conducting Class III gaming activities, often in urban areas. He will oppose such federal acquisition of lands and will not negotiate compacts where the tribe does not have lands eligible for Class III gaming. To gain the Governor’s essential assent for Section 20 requests, they must have the backing of the local jurisdiction and local community, and serve a clear, independent public policy apart from any increased economic benefit. There will be no consideration for land sought for Class III gaming in any urbanized area. However, there is support for the ratification by the California legislature of a compact already negotiated for a casino in an urban area to the north of San Francisco.

The California Nations Indian Gaming Association has called the Proclamation unfair to some tribes. In Washington last month, at a Senate hearing on trust lands, a committee member said: “The fact is, that it’s not necessarily a fair process.” For the tribes that lost their lands twice, by being moved from their historic homelands and then off their reservation lands, that is probably an understatement. (E-05.20.05)

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