CA leaders allow tribal inequality, games for wealthy

By Charlie Wright, special for Calmatters

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

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The arranged deck not only tilts the chances, but deletes justice. When the powerful and wealthy dictates the conditions, the smaller voices are silenced and the possibility is denied.

Recently my tribe, Kletsel dehe Wintun Nation, received a detrimental blow when California’s legislation passed Assembly Bill 831S Measure would ban companies – And tribes who do not own casinos – from offering online lottery games in California.

Rich, mega-casino tribes have used their influence To push this legislation, which locks the rural and less advantages of digital revenue opportunities -an arena where less economic advantages of tribal nations can compete with them on a smaller basis and begin to meet the basic needs of our people.

To find out why we oppose this bill, you need to understand who we are.

Kletsel dehe is a small Wintun tribe of 295 citizens in Kolusa County, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. Like many rural tribes, we are confronted with constant barriers to economic opportunities: jobs are scarce, infrastructure is limited and insulation strengthens poverty.

More than two decades ago, California voters approved proposals 5 and 1A, legalizing tribal games. These efforts succeeded because all the tribes stood together. Voters believed that they were creating the opportunity and self -sufficiency for every tribal community. Without this unity, there would be no mega casino in California.

But over time, it promises. A A handful of tribes The main places became ultra -rich, with casinos for billions of dollars, resorts and resources to solve infrastructure needs. These tribes renegotiated compacts, blew up the original 2000-machine border, and some even expanded to Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, dozens of other tribes have opened a fewer casinos in less profitable places, maintaining their governments in sailing, but generating only modest revenue.

And tribes that are not gaming like mine, without casino major locations, were closed in a flat annual scholarship of $ 1.1 million from the Trust Fund for Revenue Sharing. The amount has not changed for 25 years, although inflation has Cut off your real value half.

When wealthy tribes argue about laws like AB 831, they sometimes refer to “tribal struggles” – as if all tribes share the same reality. Many tribes decided these challenges years ago, while rural and small market tribes continue to face them every day.

We do not hinder their success. But it is unfair and hypocritical to these wealthy tribes now claiming that our partnerships with social game companies threaten sovereignty.

Their own casinos are built with external suppliers, Wall Street financing and non -tribal management contracts. To deny the smaller tribes, the same instruments are not for sovereignty. It’s about a monopoly.

Other countries have discovered more righteous roads. In Washington, for example, Tribes can hire unused playing machine rights each other. This guarantees that every tribe, games or not, has a real share in the industry.

California has taken the opposite approach, a frozen scholarship for the many and unlimited expansion for the few. AB 831 expands this inequality in the digital age, cutting off innovation before it can begin.

To make it clear, the largest tribes are already preparing for digital games. They build platforms for social games, so when Igaming is legalized, they will dominate again.

The rest of us will remain out, still waiting for meaningful access to the opportunities that voters think give all tribes 25 years ago.

Politics often comes down to How deep are your pocketsS But less wealthy tribes like mine are said to remain silent as our opportunity passes.

The courage to challenge a tidy deck, even when the chances are against you, changes systems and forces justice back into the rules.

The California Games are built on unity. AB 831 transmits this heritage.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.