Page 23 - Southern California Gaming Guide • March 2017

A30th Anniversary of Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Victory
quarter century ago, tribal gaming consisted of a scattering of bingo halls and card rooms sprinkled they received overwhelming support, rst in 1998 across a handful of remote Indian reservations in just a few states. at changed on February 25, when California voters passed Proposition 5 with 1987, when, after months of courtroom battles, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the more than 63% voter approval and again in 1999
Cabazon Band of Missions Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and con rmed the rights of federally-recognized Indian tribes, as sovereign nations, to o er gaming on Indian reservations.
The landmark victory was a defining moment clean water, housing, healthcare and education to in the struggle for self-determination and NativeAmericans.
when 64% of voters approved Proposition 1A.
e 2016 California Tribal Government Gaming Impact Study, commissioned by the California
Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), found that tribal gaming added $5 billion in value to the California economy in 2014, the last year for which gures are available. Tribal gaming alsosupported63,000jobsstatewide,provided $3.3 billion in worker earnings and produced nearly $400 million in state & local tax revenue in 2014. e report also found non-gaming tribal businesses generated $3.3 billion in output, supported 21,000 jobs, and produced another $80 million in state & local tax revenue.
In California alone, gaming tribes have contributed over $600 million to assist California’s non-gaming tribal governments, funds that have helped non-gaming tribes pursue their own economic development ventures such as opening retail shops, markets, gas stations and other entities.
self-sufficiency for more than 550 federally- recognized tribes across the U.S. whose isolated reservations suffered from neglect, crushing povertyandalackofschools,roads,waterand other infrastructure.
“It’s humbling to think about the role our two tribes played in advancing sovereignty and creating hope and opportunity for tens of thousands of Native Americans across the nation,” said Morongo Tribal Chairman Robert Martin. “ e Supreme Court ruling put tribes on the road to self-reliance by establishing new revenues for tribes to use to provide vital services to our people.”
Today, there are more than 350 tribal casinos in 28 states. Tribal gaming has fueled economic opportunities across the nation by funding vital tribal government services that brought roads,
Tribal gaming has created tens of thousands of jobs and billions in direct and indirect economic bene ts, through gaming and non-gaming businesses. Tribal governments use gaming proceeds to diversify and open other businesses, and to assist non-gaming tribes.
Martin and Morongo Tribal Vice Chair Mary Ann Andreas were both members of the Morongo Tribal Council during the Supreme Court challenge.
“ is struggle was generations in the making, and we were on the brink of a victory that would help secure a better future for tribes. We were all in, and we weren’t about to give up,” Andreas said.
In California, the victory at the Supreme Court led Congress to pass the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988. California tribes subsequently took the question of tribal gaming to voters where
MARCH 2017
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
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Tribes in the News