Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
May 07, 2013; 06:29 PM
SACRAMENTO — Representatives of some of the state’s most successful tribes with casinos have met privately to hammer out a proposal to legalize online poker, tribal leaders and others said Tuesday.
To read story by Jim Miller in The Press Enterprise, click here.
May 02, 2013; 02:17 PM
SACRAMENTO – In a rare legislative setback for members of Inland Southern California’s powerful tribal casino industry, the Assembly narrowly passed legislation ratifying a gaming compact between the Brown administration and a Central Valley tribe.
To read story by Jim Miller in The Press Eneterpise, click here.
May 01, 2013; 06:35 PM
SACRAMENTO — A pair of influential Riverside County tribes with casinos are trying to scuttle a gaming compact between the state and a Central Valley tribe that could come up for an Assembly ratification vote as early as today.
To read story by Jim Miller in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Published: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
Last Modified: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 – 12:11 am
Following three years of decline, California’s Indian casinos enjoyed a comeback in revenue during 2011, according to a new report.
February 18, 2013; 04:17 PM
SACRAMENTO — San Diego County’s Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians this month became the first California tribe to get a casino agreement through the federal courts.
To read story by Jim Miller In The Press Enterprise, click here.
Published: 15 November 2012 – 12:24 PM
The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians reached an agreement Thursday, Nov. 15, to acquire the site of the proposed Liberty Quarry, ending plans for an open-pit mine that became of one of the most contentious land-use projects in Riverside County history.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 09 September 2012 – 06:56 PM
Construction noise, wet paint everywhere, scalding hot water from bathroom faucets, dysfunctional elevators, cockroaches: we’re guessing the Blake Hotel, home to California’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention, is going to get some tough reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp.
To read column by Ben Goad, Jeff Horseman and Jim Miller in The Press Enterprise, click here.
RICHARD K. De ATLEY, STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com
Published: 26 July 2012 05:29 PM
A mistrial was declared Thursday, July 26 in the trial of an insurance broker and the former chief financial officer for Pechanga Resort & Casino who were charged with bilking the tribe out of about $4 million in what prosecutors describe as an overcharging scam.
Jurors were deadlocked after about a day and a half of deliberations and multiple votes. On Thursday the panel heard nearly two hours of re-read testimony before the foreman handed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Sichel a note saying they could not agree on verdicts.
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 12 June 2012 08:03 PM
SACRAMENTO — Deep differences among members of the state’s politically powerful gaming industry, particularly tribes with casinos, have once again stalled legislation to legalize online gambling in California.
Money & Politics | Spotlight
June 4, 2012 | Coulter Jones and Elizabeth Titus
In a state with nearly 38 million people, few have more influence than the top 100 donors to California campaigns – a powerful club that has donated overwhelmingly to Democrats and spent $1.25 billion to influence voters over the past dozen years.
These big spenders represent a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of individuals and groups that donated to California campaigns from 2001 through 2011. But they supplied about a third of the $3.67 billion lavished on state campaigns during that time, campaign records show.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 06 May 2012 07:26 PM
When it comes to Internet prominence, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stands out as a potential running mate for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
So says a survey by PeekYou, a company specializing in online people searches. PeekYou recently ranked possible GOP vice presidential candidates based on how often they’re mentioned on the Web, the amount of Web content they generate, their participation in social networks and other factors.
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 22 April 2012 08:12 PM
SACRAMENTO — Throughout much of the past decade, California’s Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund has been a rare revenue bright spot for Riverside County.
Created by the agreements that legalized gambling on tribal lands, the fund has fostered grants to pay for police officers, medical services and other expenses to offset traffic and other consequences of having casinos nearby.
BY JEFF HORSEMAN AND DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITERS
jhorseman@pe.com | dgang@pe.com
Published: 16 February 2012 07:05 AM
Seven years of debate over a proposed Temecula-area rock quarry came down to a tense hearing and a swing vote as Riverside County supervisors voted 3-2 Thursday to reject one of the most divisive land-use projects in recent memory.
JEFF HORSEMAN
STAFF WRITER
jhorseman@pe.com
Published: 16 February 2012 07:05 AM
Whether a proposed Temecula-area rock quarry gets built hinges on a vote scheduled for this morning by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.
The board will meet at 8:30 a.m. in Riverside to conclude its hearings on the Liberty Quarry, which raised questions about how to balance economic development, the environment and quality of life.
BY DUANE W. GANG AND JEFF HORSEMAN
STAFF WRITERS
dgang@pe.com | jhorseman@pe.com
Published: 11 February 2012 04:03 PM
A political rock-and-a-hard-place scenario faces Riverside County supervisors as they decide the fate of a proposed Temecula-area quarry.
Approve Liberty Quarry, and the five supervisors will anger a wide range of opponents, including a politically active Indian tribe. Deny the open-pit mine, and they risk the wrath of business groups and union members desperate for jobs.
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 02 November 2011 01:23 PM
SACRAMENTO – Large gaming tribes from Inland Southern California reported more than $1.2 million in political spending from July through September, according to newly filed state reports.
BY BEN GOAD AND JIM MILLER
STAFF WRITERS
bgoad@pe.com; jmiller@pe.com
Published: 25 October 2011 09:42 PM
Washington — The U.S. economy is losing billions of dollars annually to unregulated underground and offshore poker websites that can prey on compulsive and underage gamblers with impunity, proponents of legalized Internet gaming argued Tuesday before a House panel.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
SACRAMENTO – A bill to stop the proposed Liberty Quarry near Temecula cleared its first Senate committee Tuesday but will likely go no further for the remainder of the legislative year.
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, August 21, 2011
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
SACRAMENTO – Legislation to block the proposed Liberty Quarry near Temecula is quickly emerging as a Capitol showdown in the closing days of the year’s legislative session.
Dutton
From the Office of Senator Bob Dutton
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
SACRAMENTO – An effort by Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) to move California closer to making sure that those who receive welfare use those taxpayer funds as effectively and efficiently as possible was killed by Democrats during a hearing of the Senate Human Services Committee this week.
By Malcolm Maclachlan | 04/07/11 12:00 AM PST
A growing number of California Indian tribes have opened gas stations, often undercutting local competition by not charging state sales tax.
But the state Board of Equalization may put a kibosh on the practice. In a March 9 legal opinion, BOE tax counsel Carolee Johnstone said that tribes and tribal suppliers must pay most of the taxes in question—something that could quickly take away their competitive advantage.
California fares worse than U.S.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/06/2011 07:02:39 AM PST
For the first time, Indian gaming revenue showed a national decline in 2009, according to the annual Indian Gaming Industry Report by Casino City Press.
Nationwide, gaming revenue at Indian casinos declined 1 percent in 2009, and the $3.2 billion in non-gaming revenue – such as food and beverage sales, lodging and entertainment – declined 4 percent from 2008.
By Malcolm Maclachlan | 03/03/11 12:00 AM PST
After years of continual expansion, Indian gaming revenues in California fell between 2008 and 2009, according to a new report.
Alan Meister, an economist with Nathan Associates Inc., was scheduled to release his annual report Thursday that looks at Indian gaming around the country. Overall, the nationwide industry mirrored that of California, with small revenue decreases the rule around the country.
10:51 PM PST on Wednesday, December 8, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – In and out of the courtroom, state tax collectors and some California tribes continue to clash over the income tax liability of tribal members.
Next month, attorneys for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, which operates the Spotlight 29 casino in Coachella, are scheduled to file paperwork as part of their appeal of a federal judge’s spring 2010 decision. The judge ruled that California can collect state income tax from tribal members who do not live on the reservation.
By Malcolm Maclachlan | 10/07/10 12:00 AM PST
Last November, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut failed to make $7 million of a scheduled $21.25 million payment on a $500 million debt. The collateral on the deal was their Foxwoods Resort Casino. If they had been a normal business owner, they would have gone into a default, and creditors could have gone after the casino.
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, September 16, 2010
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians’ decades-long crusade to formalize its share of the region’s increasingly valuable water supply appears close to a conclusion, the Temecula-area tribe’s leader told a congressional panel Thursday.
Pechanga chairman Mark Macarro pressed members of the House Subcommittee on Water and Power to move forward with legislation, penned by Inland Rep. Joe Baca, to ratify a proposed settlement with the U.S. government and area water districts.
11:11 PM PDT on Saturday, August 21, 2010
By JIM MILLER and JEFF HORSEMAN
The Press-Enterprise
In February 2008, California voters approved tribal casino-expansion deals that supporters said would ensure aid for surrounding communities.
The agreements for the first time created a process for tribes, Inland cities and counties to negotiate payments to cover off-reservation impacts such as extra police, increased traffic and other expenses.
11:14 PM PDT on Friday, July 30, 2010
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – A plan to legalize online gambling moved forward this week in the U.S. House of Representatives, raising concerns from an Inland lawmaker and area tribes, who say the legislation would cut into California’s casino business and imperil thousands of jobs around the state.
The legislation, which would allow gamers to make certain kinds of bets legally over the Internet, was approved Wednesday by the Financial Services Committee, clearing the way for a vote on the House floor.
California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics
California WatchBlog
July 30, 2010 | Chase Davis
An independent-expenditure group backed by California Native American tribes filed a letter with the Federal Election Commission this week announcing its intent to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money supporting candidates in California congressional races.
The group, known as Californians for Fiscally Responsible Leadership, was apparently the first committee in the country to announce its intent to take advantage of FEC rulings last week that effectively lifted fundraising restrictions on soft-money political committees that declare themselves independent from candidates or political parties, if only ostensibly.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issues an executive order requiring recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to meet basic subsistence needs. GOP legislators call for the cash to be returned.
By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
June 25, 2010
California welfare recipients using state-issued debit cards withdrew more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash on casino floors between October 2009 and last month, state officials said Thursday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order requiring welfare recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to “meet the basic subsistence needs” of their families. The order also gave the state Department of Social Services seven days to produce a plan to reduce other types of “waste, fraud and abuse” in the welfare program.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 – 09:18 P.M.
Based on information contained in a story published in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times, InlandPolitics.com has verified by cross-referencing database lists from the California Department of Social Services and the California Gambling Control Commission that some local indian casinos allow welfare recipients to withdraw cash with state issued debit cards.
Casinos operated by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in Highland, Morongo Band of Mission Indians in Cabazon, Pala Band of Mission Indians in Pala, and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians in Temecula, offer automated teller machines (ATM) that accept debit cards issued by the state’s welfare system.
By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
June 24, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento —
California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state, a Los Angeles Times review of records found.
The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services to help recipients feed and clothe their families, work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms, the review found.
10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 21, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – An Assembly committee gave quick approval Wednesday to the latest legislative attempt to free up $30 million in tribal casino revenue for Inland communities and other parts of the state.
But it’s unclear whether the proposal to restore what supporters call the “lost year” of casino-mitigation funding will find support where it’s needed most: the Schwarzenegger administration.
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Press-Enterprise
All the many millions that Inland tribes spent during the recent campaign over casino-expansion deals didn’t just win an election.
It also helped put the tribes into the upper echelons of California political spending, surpassing traditional powerhouses such as energy companies, business groups and big tobacco, according to a new study.
10:00 PM PST on Thursday, March 11, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – Compulsive gambling experts had a ready opinion Thursday on whether California should legalize online poker to raise money along the lines of what an Inland tribe proposes: Bad idea.
California’s first-ever statewide conference on problem gambling drew academics, therapists and government regulators, as well as former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, whose new book “Personal Foul” describes how he bet on basketball games.
March 12, 2010 | Lance Williams
Gaming Indian tribes have emerged as bigger players in Sacramento than the power companies that dominated California politics for much of the 20th century.
The pharmaceutical lobby’s political spending is nearly triple that of the state chamber of commerce.
By John Howard | 03/11/10 1:00 AM PST
Of the more than $1.33 billion spent by special interests during the past decade to influence public policy in Sacramento, about three out of every four dollars were spent by an array of groups that included pharmaceutical companies, Indian tribes, petroleum and energy companies, the health care industry, and others.
As a group, spending by public-employee unions –including the California Teachers Association — represented just over a fourth of the total.
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