Page 17 - September 2005 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
SOycuan Donates $5.47 Million to San Diego State University
n July 25th San Diego State University industry, to help meet tribal gaming’s increasing need for “ e Sycuan Tribe is proud to partner with San (SDSU) announced the Sycuan Band of highly trained professionals, and to serve as a point of Diego State University to establish this important new the Kumeyaay Nation had donated $5.47 engagement between gaming tribes and the community. educational program,” said Daniel Tucker, Sycuan
million to establish the country’s rst research institute exclusively focused on tribal gaming. It is believed to be the largest contribution to a university by any tribe in California. e gift includes $5 million to endow the center and $474,000 in annual support.
e goals of the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming are to provide analysis of trends and issues a ecting the
“ is partnership is designed to have a transforma- tional e ect on tribal gaming across the nation,” said SDSU President Stephen L. Weber. “ e Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming will explore and address important industry issues and create best practices to resolve them. is continues SDSU’s tradition of work- ing with the community to create innovative programs.”
Tribal Chairman. “San Diego State is nationally recognized as an innovative leader in higher education and we are honored to work with SDSU to create this new institute as a center for student learning and academic research that can help support the continued growth of the tribal gaming industry.”
Special Distribution Fund Benefits Stalled for Inland Empire
On August 4th brand new police and sheri ’s vehicles, re trucks and other public safety equipment from the Riverside and San
Bernardino area—all of it purchased with the proceeds of tribal gaming—were on display at the Banning Police Station. State and local o cials, re and police chiefs and tribal leaders were also on hand to show the public bene ts from tribal gaming, and urge Governor Schwarzenegger to make sure these funds continue to ow to local agencies.
e impressive assembly of public safety equipment was only part of what cities and counties in the Inland Empire have acquired from tribal governments’ contributions to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund (SDF). Funding for local governments from the
SDF became available for the rst time in 2003. A total of $13,002,725 was provided in the 2003/04 scal year to Inland and Santa Barbara communities to add 30 sheri ’s deputies and police o cers; purchase 21 fully- equipped police and sheri ’s vehicles, two re engines, an ambulance, and breathing apparatuses for more than 100 re ghters. And that is only part of the list. Almost $16 million will be provided for communities in the three counties in the current scal year.
Unfortunately, part of the SDF funding for the coming year has been stalled at the state level. State lawmakers, tribal and local government leaders have called on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to restore a $20 million SDF appropriation for local governments that was inadvertently removed from the 2005–06 state
budget. e website www.StrongerCommunities.com provides information about the SDF, including features to e-mail the governor and legislators urging them to return these critical dollars to Southern California communities.
e SDF was created by the 1999 Tribal-State Compact and is funded by 26 tribes that operate more than 200 slot machines as of September 1999. e funds are for local governments impacted by tribal gaming, gambling addiction programs, regulatory costs, and for providing revenues for non-gaming tribes. Priorities for disbursements are local law enforcement, re and other emergency services, among other public services.
...More Tribes in the News on page 23
September 2005 Page 17
Tribes in the News