California Governor signs bill in support of Tribes in card room legal grapple
The new law will allow Tribes to sue regarding table game rights.
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill that gives that state’s casino-owning Tribes the right to file lawsuits against business competitors, according to a local report in The Mercury News.
The signed bill, Senate Bill 549, ended an expensive political fight during the most recent state legislative session.
Tribes can now petition a judge to rule on whether California’s card rooms are offering blackjack and pai gow poker card games illegally.
California’s Tribes claim they were given exclusive rights to host these table games by voters, the local report said.
However, Tribes around the state did not have the legal stand to sue because they are established sovereign nations.
Currently, California is home to nearly 80 privately owned gambling halls.
Governor Newsom said in a recent news release, “I’m proud of the progress California has made to reckon with the dark chapters of our past, and we’re committed to continuing this important work to promote equity, inclusion and accountability for native peoples.”
The debate over whether Tribal groups can file lawsuits against these gambling halls racked up a price tag that reached millions of dollars that the cardroom industry spent on lobbyists and donations to legislative campaigns, according to the local news report.
Newsom recently sent a letter to the US Department of the Interior (DOI) and asked the department not to proceed with two state casino projects.
The first was for the Koi Nation of Northern California’s project in Sonoma County involving Shiloh Resort and Casino. The second was for the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ casino project at Scotts Valley Casino and Tribal Housing Project in Solano County.
In his letter, Newsom expressed concern that the DOI had “departed from specific procedural pathways and important safeguards typically taken by tribes who wish to restore tribal land and establish a casino.”
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