25-Mar-1998 Wednesday
SACRAMENTO -- An initiative that would legalize video slot machines and all
other games now played at American Indian casinos throughout California was
cleared for signature gathering yesterday.
Tribes reportedly have stockpiled more than $20 million to qualify and
promote the measure, which they hope to offer as an alternative to a model
gaming agreement signed earlier this month by the Pala Band of Mission
Indians in San Diego County.
Supporters of the initiative, which include most of the state's major
gaming tribes, are up against an unusually tight deadline to qualify for
the November ballot. They must submit 433,269 valid signatures by April 17,
said the Secretary of State's Office.