A second California tribe has added its voice to concerns over the haste with which state lawmakers appear to be moving to pass California Assembly Bill 831 (AB831) into law.
In a letter sent to state lawmakers, California's Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe is requesting that they pause movement on the bill. Tribal leaders are asking for additional time. This would allow for further discussion of issues that are of concern to the state's tribes.
Virgil Moorehead, Tribal Chairperson for Big Lagoon Rancheria, wrote of these concerns in a letter sent to California's Senate Appropriations Committee. That committee is currently considering whether to pass bill AB831 and move it on to the next step toward becoming a law.
In his letter, titled "Opposition to AB831", Moorhead asks that the committee "pause consideration of AB831 to allow additional time for tribal consultation and consideration of this critical issue."
The bill, which would ban sweepstakes casinos in California, is currently on temporary hold by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
California's tribes were given control over the operations of all land-based casinos in the state. A 1987 Supreme Court decision, California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, was the key moment in creating this system. This ruling confirmed the right of tribes to operate gaming facilities on their lands. These tribal casinos are regulated federally by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
According to the letter from Moorehead, since AB831 "threatens sovereignty and self-determination, it does not have the unanimous support of California's indian tribes."
Moorehead goes on to state that the Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe believes that the state assembly is rushing the bill into law without any consultation between the state government and California's tribal governments.
"AB831 was advanced in the Senate without meaningful government-to-government consultation that is owed to all California tribes under both federal and state policy commitments," Moorehead notes.
Of special concern to tribes is the broad criminalization language in AB831 involving online gaming platforms. The Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe believes the bill's attempt to extend state criminal jurisdiction into Indian Country violates federal law.
"Such overreach undermines the federal and California policies of promoting tribal sovereignty and self-determination," Moorehead writes.
By locking them out of emerging digital business sectors, it's doing economic harm to smaller tribes. The Big Lagoon Rancheria tribe, with just 17 members, can't operate large land-based casinos.
At first, there appeared to be a unified front among California's tribes in support of the passage of AB831. However, that foundation is beginning to show cracks.
Just last week, the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation of the Cortina Rancheria tribe entered into a partnership with sweepstakes casino operator VGW. This partnership will see the two groups combining to offer social and sweepstakes casino platforms in California.
The Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) has thrown its support behind this growing tribal opposition to AB831. The player advocacy group is offering the opinion that the state is hurrying the bill through the process toward passage.
Similar to the view of the tribes, the SPGA describes AB831 as a flawed bill. The organization is requesting that state lawmakers to be stepping back and reconsidering the ramifications of rushing the bill's passage into law.
California's current legislative session will conclude on September 12. However, there's nothing preventing the state assembly from moving AB831 on to a future session for further consideration.
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