The proponents of Proposition 5 are playing to your emotions (This is an extremely emotional issue to Native Americans, employees that work at their establishments and many others who back the Native American's quest to rise out of, and stay out of poverty.) to pass their flawed initiative. Rather than discuss the SPECIFICS of their proposal, (the specifics are word for word, the entire text of the initiative is at the official 'Yes on 5' site [1].) they are raising phony strawmen issues like Nevada casinos (phony straymen issues? A California campaign that is 97% funded by Nevada interests is far from a strawman issue and exposes that the other groups are only 3% behind it monetarily.) Here are the facts (our best attempt at twisting the facts):

• The claim that Indian casinos will be shut down if Proposition 5 is defeated is false. (Read again. It says "Unless Proposition 5 passes, this deal would result in the shutdown of video machines which provide 75% of our revenue." -How many businesses could survive losing 75% of their revenue sources?) Numerous Indian tribes have already negotiated gaming agreements with California to operate casinos on their own land. (FALSE: Numerous? Only 11 of over 100 California tribes to be exact. Only 4 of those 11 promoted their own compact through California legislature. Others publicly voiced that they signed the compact under duress, did so "with a gun to (their) head" - the threat of seizures.) Federal law GUARANTEES that EVERY tribe wishing to operate gaming may negotiate an agreement with the state. (Governor Wilson refused to negotiate a compact with any tribe but the Pala tribe and then said the other tribes MUST sign on to the Pala compact in which they did not negotiate or face having most of their gaming shut down! So yes, that is Federal law and it is being eluded by Governor Wilson.) No tribe needs Proposition 5 to operate Indian casinos. (Several years of stone-walling by Governor Wilson has made Proposition 5 necessary to make the Governorship comply with this Federal law.)
• This initiative MANDATES the terms of a gaming agreement between tribes and California, with NO negotiation, NO compromise and NO local vote of citizens. (Separate agreements CAN still be sought out. No negotiation is what Governor Wilson has been doing for the last 7 years!)
• This initiative would allow the promoters to vastly EXPAND their casino operations. (NO: there is nothing in this proposition that would change how Native Casinos can expand. As always, it is based upon the market and is limited to Tribal land held in trust prior to 1988. On the other hand, promoters of the NO side - 97% Nevada interests - would retain their near-monopoly on California gamers.)
• Huge Indian casinos could open throughout California. ("Under both federal law and Prop 5, Indian casinos can only be located on existing Tribal reservation lands established before 1988 or on Tribal land received through a land claims settlement previously approved by federal government. No Tribe could just buy a piece of property outside their Tribal lands and put a casino on it." [2.])
• Moreover, these casinos are EXEMPT from virtually all state regulations including environmental, health and worker safety rules. (Notice that they avoid bring up FEDERAL regulations - tribal land is under federal jurisdiction. There are, however, many agencies that oversee different aspects of Native gaming including State agencies [3.]. Worker protections: 2 of California's largest Native casinos have agreed to allow Union representation voluntarily, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians[4.] and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians [5.]. Environment: "There are many examples in California of tribes that have taken proactive steps, sometimes exceeding federal environmental requirements, in order to improve environmental protection and mitigate the impacts of their activities, both on the reservation and in the surrounding community." Some examples: Big Valley Rancheria - wetlands/parking lot conflict resolved; Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians - water treatment & recycling, working with the county the tribe paid for $1.3 million for road improvements entirely outside of tribal land; Morongo Band of Mission Indians - full range of projects such as water resource protection, range management, installing silt basins, new sewage treatment facility in process; many more examples specifically outlined in the source [10.] including the Pechanga Reservation, Redding Rancheria, and the Agua Caliente Band who adopted land zoning ordinances of the Palm Springs community.)
• These casinos pay NO federal, state or local taxes on the massive profits they make. (Indian gaming in California already generates over $120 million in state and local tax revenues per year. On top of this, Prop 5 requires California Indian casinos to pay up to six percent of the net revenues from their gaming machines to support programs that will benefit non-gaming Tribes AND Californians statewide [6.]. Tax exemptions for Tribal government gaming are provided by existing federal law, not by Prop 5.[7.])

Most Californians want to help Native Americans become self-sufficient. However, less than 15% of California Indians will receive benefits from this initiative. Proposition 5 is a GRAB FOR ADVANTAGE by a few wealthy Indian tribes at the expense of all Californians. (FALSE: The vast majority of California tribes support Proposition 5, representing over 90% of Native Americans living on reservations [8.]. Any tribe that doesn't have gaming, whether by choice, due to their geographic isolation, or any other reason, receives a percentage of the gaming tribe's revenue under Prop 5 in addition to the percentage that goes to local, non-tribal agencies as referenced earlier.[6.])

That's why an extremely broad-based coalition of groups--Business, Labor, Seniors, Educators, Law Enforcement, Environmental, Local Government-- oppose Proposition 5. UNREGULATED, UNTAXED, and UNLIMITED casinos are UNFAIR to California. Please Vote NO! (The yes coalition has members of the same groups [9.]. Their claims of unregulated, untaxed, and unlimited casinos have already been exposed above.)

JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP
Former Attorney General of California

JUANITA HAUGEN
Pacific Region Director, National School Boards Association

BILL CAMPBELL
President Emeritus, California Manufacturers Association

Link to: California's Modern Indian War