By opposing Proposition 5 on the November ballot, the Table Mountain band of Fresno County joins only one other California tribe in opposing the measure, the Pala band from Southern California.
The Table Mountain tribe, which operates a casino near Friant in Fresno County, and the Pala band are among 11 tribes that signed an agreement with Gov. Wilson regulating gambling on reservation land. Proposition 5 would overwrite that agreement, experts say.
"The tribe believes the compact it has reached with the state takes into account community concerns and protects not only the tribe's economic future but the off-reservation environment, patrons and workers in a fair way," said Howard Dickstein, a Sacramento lawyer representing Table Mountain.
By opposing Proposition 5, the Table Mountain band stands alongside a coalition of labor unions, law enforcement agencies, religious groups and Nevada casinos, which provided the vast majority of the $1.2 million raised through June to pay for opposition ads.
The Table Mountain tribe announced its opposition at a Fresno news conference, alongside Pala band officials who laid out a new television ad campaign against the measure.
"We want the opportunity to tell our story," said Pala tribal secretary Stan McGarr, who attended the Fresno announcement. "We want the public to know that a negotiated agreement with the state is far preferable to the straitjacket approach of Proposition 5, in which there is no negotiation or discussion of compromise."
Dickstein would not say whether Table Mountain would help pay for the opposition campaign.
Proposition 5, backed by 85 of California's 112 tribes, would permit reservations to run casinos with fewer state and local restrictions than those required under the agreement with Wilson, known as the Pala Compact.
The tribes, which raised nearly $25 million through June 30 to qualify the initiative and begin an ad war last summer, say they need unrestricted gambling to maintain the greatly improved living standards that the lucrative industry has brought them in the last decade.
Las Vegas-style slots, such as those currently used at Table Mountain and the Eagle Mountain casino near Porterville, remain under threat of seizure by the federal government because they don't conform to state gaming regulations.
Under the compact, tribal casinos agree to replace the machines with electronic lottery machines.
Nevada casino interests have provided 97% of the money financing the opposition campaign, according to recent reports filed with the Secretary of State's Office.
Lawyer Cathy Christian, a lobbyist for both the casinos and the coalition opposing Proposition 5, said the measure circumvents state authority and could be unconstitutional.
Dickstein and other Proposition 5 opponents also contend the measure would lead to expanded off-reservation gambling.
Dickstein also said the compact places casino service employees under state employment protections and requires tribes to work closely with local governments to settle disagreements over traffic noise and environmental problems.
Proposition 5 proponents say about 25 existing tribal casinos would be forced to shut down under the Pala Compact.
Opponents of the measure say loosened regulations would prompt another 40 tribes to open casinos, diluting business for existing operations. Bee news services contributed to this report.