August 11, 2026 · GO · 14,008 words · 6 speakers · 103 segments
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Good morning once again. The committee will begin. The Senate Committee on Government Organization will now begin. Once again, thank you everyone who came from far and close. We appreciate everyone showing up today. I'm State Senator Susan Rubio, chair of this committee, and today we're going to be listening to tribal compacts. And for those unfamiliar with the Senate procedures that are established for informational hearings, we're going to hear today the details on these compacts, but the vote will take place at a later date on the Senate floor. So once again, no vote will be taken here. But before we begin, I wanted to first extend my thank you to all of us here today, but I know we have a couple people joining us remotely, and we will go in order. With that, I will begin my very first group, and that's Agua Caliente. We're going to hear the amendments. With us today is Matthew Lee, Senior Advisor for Tribal Negotiations for Government Newsom. Mr. Lee, if you can please join us.
And when you're ready, you may begin.
Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to join? Okay. You may begin.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Good morning. Good morning, honorable members, representatives of tribal governments, including tribal chairs who are here today. And, of course, good morning to members of the public. Before I launch into the specifics of this particular compact amendment, I thought it might be helpful just to engage in a little bit of table setting around what is the federal law that we're working under here today and what's some of the background and context that has led us to some of the compacts and compact amendments that this committee is going to hear about this morning. there is a federal law called the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA, that governs how casino-style gaming on tribal land is to take place. And it's sort of an unusual federal law in that it tells, you know, it's one sovereign, the federal government, telling two other sovereigns to get together. This is a tribal government and a state government who are getting together under the auspices of this federal law to try to negotiate a tribal state gaming compact to regulate activities that are directly connected to that Class III gaming on tribal land. And to do that there are constraints on how the state can negotiate and in particular what it can bargain over It can just bargain over the whole universe There a list of seven topics in that federal law that we permitted to bargain over and we can bargain outside that seven list We always try to reach a deal, and we are often able to reach a deal. And in all of the compacts and compact amendments that you'll hear about this morning, save one, we have, in fact, been able to reach a deal, and we're very grateful for that. If the state and the tribe are not able to reach a deal, that can give rise to litigation. The tribe can sue the state in federal court, arguing that the state has failed to bargain in good faith. And if the tribe that sues the state is successful in that lawsuit, one of the things that can ultimately happen is the state can lose its power to have any say in the regulation of tribal gaming at all. Tribes can instead game under what are called secretarial procedures. These are procedures that are issued by the federal secretary of the interior without necessarily state input. So that's an outcome that we try to avoid. It is an outcome that the state has faced with increasing frequency in the past couple years since the federal appellate court for the West Coast, the Ninth Circuit, decided a case called Chicken Ranch that has significantly restricted what the state had previously understood its permissible scope of bargaining under IGRA to be. And so since Chicken Ranch, the state has, on one hand, both tried to make sure that it is cleaning up its existing compacts in ways that are consistent with Chicken Ranch. Under Chicken Ranch in particular, the state is no longer able to bargain for terms like CEQA-style environmental review, family law terms related to the required payment of child and spousal support, very broad conceptions of potential tort liability and a very broad conception of what we call the gaming facility, which is the casino building that these compacts often regulate. So we've been trying to clean up our compacts in ways that are consistent with Chicken Ranch. We have been trying to think very carefully about, you know, what are the core priorities that the state thinks it can bargain over, that it wants to make sure it is prioritizing in all of its bargaining. And we've also been facing a number of lawsuits and other pushback from tribes with existing compacts that predate Chicken Ranch that may disagree with us about the scope and impact of that decision. and that in some cases have brought new additional litigation trying to challenge those existing compacts in ways that are still actively being litigated right now and that therefore generate a lot of uncertainty. So as we've been working to clean up our compacts in ways that are consistent with Chicken Ranch, to prioritize and be thoughtful about what the state is prioritizing in its compact bargaining and looking for ways to avoid the burden and uncertainty of litigation and otherwise protect the things that are important to it in a post-Chicken Ranch world, what you have here today in large part is a number of tribal governments who have been excellent partners to the state who have really stepped up to help us work through that process who are not in any kind of litigation or pre-litigation or otherwise adversarial posture with the state. And you see a series of compact amendments reflecting that, where these are tribal governments that are willing to publicly affirm that as to certain terms that have been very contentious in a post-chicken ranch world, these tribal governments are willing to publicly disavow any intention of bringing litigation over those particular terms in exchange for a little more flexibility on some of the other compact terms that are important to them. So that's the basic table setting for a lot of the amendments you are going to see here today. First up is Agua Caliente. And what we have in this amendment is, just to expand a little bit on those terms that you will see these tribal governments promising not to sue over, there are three important revenue terms that are worth flagging in these compacts. There's something called the Special Distribution Fund, which is intended to defray the state's regulatory costs. There is something called the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, which tribes with large gaming operations pay into, and that's redistributed to tribes that either don't game or have smaller gaming operations. That tends to run a surplus, and so there is also a thing called the Tribal Nation Grant Fund that allocates that surplus in ways that are consistent with that same underlying purpose of the RSTF. So what we have here today is a promise from the tribe not to sue over those three terms, which have been very contentious in other contexts. In exchange, you see a restructuring of the tribe's obligation to pay into the RSTF. In broad strokes, you see a larger lump sum payment and a smaller per device variable payment. We don't anticipate that this will result in a net reduction of payments into the RSTF, but it is a restructuring. You see a modest number of additional gaming devices, 500 additional devices, and some more flexibility on where those devices could be placed. Some more flexibility on things like building codes, that standard chicken ranch cleanup I was referring to earlier, a compact term that goes out to 2061. I think those are the key terms of this particular amendment, but happy to answer any questions, of course.
Thank you, Leslie. At this time, I'd like to invite Jeff Gruby, who's chairman of Agua Caliente Band. Oh, I'm so sorry. I just want to make sure that we know that he's going to be joining us remotely, and so he's standing by. But before we do, I'm going to turn it over to my colleague here, Senator Blakespear.
Yes, thank you, Chair. I just wanted to ask a question of the introduction.
Is that okay?
Absolutely. Okay, thank you. So in a post-chicken ranch world, can you just give a little bit more detail about what are the CEQA requirements that apply? And also, can you clarify, is this CEQA as it applies to anything that's built, like housing, or is it only for casinos that are built?
Great question, and thank you very much for asking. So the starting point for this is that as a general matter, the state doesn have regulatory jurisdiction over tribal governments on tribal land So we are not able to apply CEQA to tribal governments What had happened in the past was that the state had bargained for CEQA environmental review as a term in the compact specific to CEQA-type projects related to the gaming facility, and under Chicken Ranch, that's something that we're no longer able to do.
Okay, thank you. So just to be a little bit more specific, so is there some sort of environmental review before development happens, or is it, I mean, there has to be some sort of health and safety like fire hazard or polluting a waterway that runs into non-tribal land. I mean, there has to be something in that area, right?
There are health and safety standards in these compacts, building codes, plumbing codes, electrical codes, fire codes, things like that. There are separate standards about water quality. In particular, food and beverage safety within the gaming facility is something else we bargained for. So we do try hard to bargain for each of those kinds of public health and safety impacts that you just identified, yes. And that's in the post-chicken ranch world and in the pre-chicken ranch world.
Yes, that's right.
And that's separate from the sort of broader overarching pre-chicken ranch environmental review that we used to bargain for, yes.
Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thank you.
Well, since we asked questions, I'd love my colleague if there's any other questions.
Okay.
So now I will move over to Chairman Jeff Gruby. if you want to join us and you may start if you have any comments, questions or concerns.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. I'm Jeff Gruby, Chairman of the Abua Colente Band of Koyi Indians. My tribe is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in the Coachella Valley within Riverside. Riverside County, sorry. The tribal headquarters are located in Palm Springs, large portions of the cities of Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, and Cathedral City are on our reservation, which includes about 34,000 acres set out in a checkerboard pattern. Our tribal government provides a wide variety of services and benefits to tribal members, including those related to health care, education, cultural preservation, and general welfare. We continually collaborate with our local governments and communities on public safety, infrastructure issues, as well as other projects and initiatives to address shared concerns. We employ approximately 3,200 team members working within gaming and non-gaming, tribal economic development ventures, and the tribe is one of the largest employers within the Coachella Valley. In addition to gaming properties, we operate two golf courses, multiple restaurants, an entertainment venue, other non-gaming businesses, recreational areas open to the public, and we manage extensive real estate holdings for commercial and residential development. The tribe also operates the Agua Colante Museum and the world-class spa at CEHI within our newly constructed cultural plaza, which is an example of a great project that was a direct result of our 2016 compact negotiation. I'm pleased to be here as Agua Colante seeks the legislature's support to ratify the First amendment to the current Tribal State Compact between the state of California and my tribe. The majority of the amendments before you today are updates to align our compact with recent changes and law that primarily come as a result of the Ninth Circuit's decision in the Chaykin Rancheria versus California. Additionally, the tribe and the state use this amendment opportunity to simplify our revenue sharing obligations. This allows a path to growth for our gaming facilities and also preserves our longstanding commitment to support limited and non-gaming tribes. Working with Governor Newsom, his senior advisor for tribal negotiations, Matthew Lee, and the Attorney General's Tribal Compact Advisors was a straightforward, efficient, and most importantly, a respectful process. I'd like to thank them for their work. And thank you, Madam Chair and members, for allowing me the opportunity to provide my comments today. I'm looking forward to the legislative ratification of this First Amendment. Thank you so much.
I'm going to turn it over once again. Any other comments before I ask? For my own education, and I'm sorry, I do appreciate the comment from my colleague, Senator Blakespear, in terms of just understanding that even though it's a tribal reservation, there's implications to our safety. I'm curious, and I know I heard you say that you collaborate on public safety issues, considering there's so many wildfires going on and a lot of it has to do with brush and everything else. Are we having a higher standard as it pertains to seeing the bigger picture and doing something concerning, you know, just the climate change and everything else that's putting us in a more precarious position? Can you share?
Yeah, that's a great question. And I think it's an important reminder to me to situate these gaming compact and gaming compact amendments within the broader context of the full spectrum of the government-to-government relationship that the state has with each of these tribal governments and with all tribal governments. You heard the chairman allude to the tribal government services that these gaming revenues are able to fund, and I suspect that will be a common theme this morning. And I think one of the first things you see many tribes fund, especially when those tribes are situated in areas that are, of course, dealing with a large and growing wildfire threat, is fire protection services, fire departments, fire prevention. And so, you know, even outside the gaming compact context, I think you do see a lot of cooperation between the state and tribal governments on fire preparedness, fire prevention, fire mitigation, and, you know, firefighting. And so I think the short answer is yes, absolutely. And one of the things I think you will see in some of these compacts is, you know, greater flexibility that will allow certain tribal governments to continue to make those investments in public safety, including fire suppression that they're already making.
Thank you for that. Well, you know, I served eight years on the insurance committee, and I visited the reservation, several of them, and I know what we're dealing with in our state of California. And, you know, it's just putting a fine point on that issue that I think we have to just be more mindful of that collaboration. And with that, I'll turn it over to Senator Blakesphere.
Thank you. I just had a follow-up question on that. So there a lot of reference to the historic inhabitants of this area being able to use prescribed burns to manage against fire risk because then the fires aren so big and devastating Is it possible for our tribes to be following standards that are different from Cal Fire or the state when it comes to things like preemptive or prescribed burns?
I apologize. I don't think I can speak to that directly just because it's not something that has come up in the agri-gaming context specifically, but I'm happy to look into that and get back to you if that's helpful.
I was just curious about the relationship between what the California state is doing and what the sovereign governments might be doing related to fire prevention and mitigation.
Absolutely.
Thank you. I'll turn it over to my colleague, Senator Richardson.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Given the comments that are made, I just wanted to share something that I saw on one of the tours. it was not at Agua Calahante, but it was at another tribal nation. I think it's important for us to understand not only do the tribal nations do what they need to do to properly protect their property, but they're actually also helping in their neighboring communities. Oftentimes there are fires, other issues where support is needed, and many of the tribal nations have full-on fire departments, tremendous amount of support, and they volunteer to come in and utilize their resources to help the existing resources maybe in the Inland Empire. So I just wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that. Not only are they working to meet their own needs for their nation and their land, but they're also assisting in the other areas as well.
Okay. Thank you very much. And yes, and thank you to all the tribes who I know work really well with local governments and pay for fire services, police, and I think that any local government is thankful for that. So thank you. Without any more comments, we will now close. Oh, I'm so sorry. Public comments. My apologies. Now anyone wishing to speak on this tribal compact between the state of California and Agua Caliente Band of Cowellae Indians, step up to the mic.
I'll just be very quick because Chairman Gruby said it all, but Nick Brokaw here on behalf of La Gokalian to Banakawiya Indians. We just want to again echo and extend our thanks to the Newsom administration, the Attorney General's office on the partnership, the productive conversations. It's really been a respectful and efficient government-to-government process, so thank you for that.
Okay, anybody else wishing to speak? Seeing no interest, we want to thank Mr. Lee and, of course, the chairman for joining us. We will now close this hearing, and we're going to open the next one. Thank you, Mr. Lee. We will now go to hearing number two, and this is a tribal state compact between the state of California and the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. Mr. Lee will start, and we would invite Sean Lewis, vice chairman for Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, to also join us. So whenever you're ready, Mr. Lee, you may commence, and I'll invite you. He is here with us to come to the front. Thank you for joining us. Welcome. So we're going to start with Mr. Lee, and then I'll give you an opportunity to speak as well.
Mr. Lee, you may begin. Thank you very much again, Madam Chair. This is a new tribal state gaming compact replacing a compact that had previously been negotiated in 2004 and had since expired It very much consistent with other recent tribal state gaming compacts that this body has seen It allows 1,200 gaming devices, that is 1,200 Class III slot machines, with standard revenue terms that I alluded to earlier, payments into the special distribution fund to defray the state's regulatory costs. Because it's only a 1,200 device compact, there's no payment into the RSTF. That's the fund that is intended for revenue sharing from large gaming operations to small or non-gaming tribes. And 1,200 devices is about the cutoff above which we typically bargain for payment into that. Standard terms protecting workers who are in jobs that are sufficiently connected to the tribe's class three gaming activities. Those are things like state minimum wage, state law protections against harassment, retaliation, discrimination, and what's called a tribal labor relations ordinance, which provides a framework for labor organizing in the context of the casino. One term I would flag in this compact concerns the geographic location of the tribe's future gaming facility. My understanding is that there is not currently a tribal gaming facility in California associated with this tribe, but this tribe spans the border into Nevada and Arizona. The tribe had previously found the 2004 compact to be too restrictive, sort of a bad guess as to where that casino might be located. And as a result of logistical problems that emerged with the proposed casino site described in that compact after the compact was finalized, the tribe ultimately wasn't able to move forward with its California casino. Now, to help solve for that problem going forward and provide the tribe with a bit more flexibility on that point while retaining appropriate state and local input in the location of a future gaming facility, we're using a federal law process known as a two-part determination. The compact contemplates that if there is a future federal two-part determination, which is where the Secretary of the Interior determines that taking certain land into trust for gaming would be good for the relevant tribe and would not have adverse impacts on relevant local communities. And the state's governor concurs in that same determination. Then new land can be taken into trust for gaming by that tribe. So this compact, it doesn't circumscribe that process in any way, and it does not in any way restrict a future governor's power to concur or not to concur in any two-part determination that is made. It just says that if there is a future two-part determination near the City of Needles and the governor chooses to concur in that down the road, that that site will also be one of the places that, consistent with this compact, the tribe can engage in Class III gaming. Happy to answer any other questions but very much consistent with other recent 1 device compacts that this body has seen Thank you Thank you So before we move forward just want to make sure no one has any questions for Mr Lee
Okay, so we will now move over to Sean Lewis.
Chairman, thank you so much. You may begin when you're ready. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Committee members. My name is Sean Lewis, and I serve as vice chairman of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. It is my honor and privilege to be here today to provide support to our compact and relationship to the state of California. With me today are two of our council members. I have Secretary Colleen Garcia and Council Member Nicole Garcia, and our legal advisors, Mr. Virenkuhn-Vioma and Mr. David Clifford. I'd like to begin by expressing appreciation to the team here, Governor Newsom's office, the committee and staff, and everyone who supported our efforts to be here today. The Mojave people are people ahamakav, which means a people along the river. Our ancestral homelands extend along the Colorado River across from our now California, Arizona, and Nevada. We are fortunate to still occupy portions of our original homelands. Our identity, culture, and way of life are deeply connected to the Colorado River and the lands that surround it. Today, the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe continues our responsibility to protect our lands, our culture, and the well-being of future generations for all Californians. In 2004, our tribe entered into its first tribal state gaming compact with California. The 2004 compact limited gaming to a single parcel of land that ultimately proved economically unsuited for development. As a result, for more than 20 years, the tribe has not been able to operate a casino in California or realize the economic development opportunity the compact was originally intended to provide. While land used for gaming will still require future federal approvals and the governor's concurrence, this new compact will finally provide the tribe with meaningful opportunities to develop a modest gaming facility in the future. It is important to note no single person benefits from our tribe's gaming. The revenue generated by our facility will help fund essential tribal government programs and services for our members, while also providing jobs to all Californians along with all of the reservation, non-tribal economic development opportunities that accompany gaming projects. The compact reflects a balanced government-to-government agreement, supports tribal jobs, and funding for essential tribal programs and services. After more than two decades, this compact gives the Fort Mojave Indian tribe a fair opportunity to pursue economic development while protecting patrons, employees, and neighbor California communities. For the Mojave people, this is about more than economic development. It is an investment in our health, education, and future generations of our people. Thank you again for this opportunity, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you.
I'll turn it over to my only member here. Just really quickly, I know you said that you had a single parcel that you were not able to put a casino on. Do you have any near future plans to do so? Do you have any timeline or anything in the future?
There's no timeline right now. With the opportunity to actually look for other pieces of parcels that are contiguous with tribal land in California, that's going to be a process that this new compact will allow us to do.
Well, thank you for your presentation. Thank you. I will now invite members of the public to come up to the microphone if you wish to speak on this matter. Thank you. Please state your name.
Good morning. Dawn Rouse, San Bernardino County, in support.
Thank you. Thank you.
Good morning. Dylan Lasowski with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, in support.
Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak? Seeing no interest, that concludes our informational hearing on the Fort Mojave Compact. We will now move on to the next one. Thank you, gentlemen.
Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.
We will now move on to our next hearing, which is the Fifth Amendment to the Tribal State Compact between the state of California and the Pico-Yoon Rancheria of Chuchonsky Indians of California. I will again start with Mr. Lee and welcome Chairperson Dean Kamalani. I'm going to have to apologize to everyone. and I'm sure my pronunciation this morning may not be up to par, but, you know, welcome. Thank you for being here. So we will start again with Mr. Lee and then move over, so you may begin when you're ready.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. This amendment is a little bit different from the other amendments before this body today. This is simply an extension to an existing 1999 compact between the state and the tribe. I had mentioned earlier that sometimes when the state and the tribal government are not able to successfully reach an agreement under IGRA, they can wind up in litigation. That is unfortunately what's happened here, that that litigation is proceeding. While it proceeds, I think all parties agree that it makes sense to maintain the status quo. happy to simply extend the tribe's existing 1999 gaming compact to allow that status quo to be maintained and to allow the tribe's litigation to proceed in an orderly fashion.
Thank you. Now you may proceed.
Thank you. Hilly Hilly, Chairwoman Rubio, members of the committee, my fellow tribal leaders in the room and the public. So I'm here today So first of all, my name is Deanne Kamalani, and I'm proud to serve as chairperson of the Pecumorantria of the Chick-Chansey Indians. I'm here today on behalf of our tribal council and our people to respectfully ask for your support in ratifying the Fifth Amendment to our tribal state gaming compact. So for Chick-Chansey, gaming is not simply a business. This revenue is what allows our tribal government to take care of our people, exercise our sovereignty, and build a stronger, more secure future for our community. Currently, Chick Chancy Gold Resort and Casino employs 1,100 team members. And with that amount of team members, I would say 95% of them live in two surrounding counties, Fresno and Madera. they inject millions of dollars into our local economy since we opened the property. Currently, we have an MOU with Madera County. We have funded to build a fire station, and we continue to fund those who work there, as well as fund our local sheriff department or the Madera County Sheriff Department. We have donated we are a proud community partner We have donated and sponsored more than million since we have opened And the revenues generated by our gaming enterprise help provide health care to our families housing services for our tribal citizens programs for our elders educational opportunities for our young people I believe this has been the most students we have had enrolled in college, and that includes community college, any trade schools, since we were reestablished in 1988. The funds also go to support the public safety, infrastructure, and the preservation of our Chichanxi culture, language, and traditions. In regards to our language, we partnered with Fresno State University, who assisted us in preparing our dictionary, and we're really working towards revitalizing our language. Revenues also allow us to invest in projects that create jobs and economic opportunity, not only for our tribal citizens, but our neighbors and the surrounding Central Valley and mountain communities. Revenue from our gaming enterprises provides our nation with greater stability and certainty so we can continue making those investments and planning responsibly for generations to come. But I want to leave you with something even more important. For generations, our proud Chichanxi people fought hard to maintain our land, our culture, and our inherent right to govern ourselves. So today, gaming gives Chichanxi the resources to put that sovereignty into practice. It means caring for an elder. It means helping a young tribal citizen get an education. It means providing housing services, preserving our culture, and creating opportunities for children who will inherit this tribal nation long after all of us are gone. You know, this compact is not simply about gaming. It's a document that helps our tribal nation remain self-reliant. exercise our sovereignty, and provide a better future for our tribal citizens of the Picayune Ranchery of the Chichanxi Indians. Michica, thank you.
Thank you. I will. Any comments? Thank you so much for your testimony. I'm sure the Maduro Sheriff's Department appreciates that. $25 million in sponsorships in general. As I shared earlier today, I always appreciate that partnership with local governments. At this point, I would like to invite anyone from our audience to come and speak. Please join us up in the microphone. Seeing no one wishing to speak on this item, I want to thank you for joining us here today. And that concludes the informational hearing on the Piquiune amendments. And thank you for coming in person as well. So, Dr. Oh, sure. Thank you. Thank you so much. All righty. Thank you. So now we will move on to the Second Amendment to the Tribal State Gaming Compact between the state of California and the Santa Inez Band of Chumas Indians. Once again, Mr. Lee, you'll be up first, and I would like to invite Kenneth Kahn, chairman of Santa Inez Band of Chumas Indians, to join us. Welcome. So, I get to see you again. And, Mr. Lee, when you are ready, you may begin.
Thank you. Thank you very much again Madam Chair This amendment is conceptually similar to the Agua Caliente amendment that we were discussing a few moments ago It's another situation where the state is being thoughtful about its position and priorities in the post-chicken ranch world and is working with a tribal government that has been an excellent partner to figure out how we can make this compact work better for both of us in a way that is sustainable and durable going forward. The basic contours of what that means here are you see the same kind of promise not to sue over those revenue terms I was mentioning earlier, the special distribution fund to defray the state's regulatory costs and the Revenue-Baring Trust Fund and Tribal Nation Grant Fund. You also see a modest increase in the number of gaming devices, 500 additional gaming devices for 3,000 total. You see the sort of standard post-Chicken Ranch cleanup to make sure that our compacts are consistent with Chicken Ranch. In this case, that includes not only narrowing the scope of provisions addressing potential tort liability, which is a standard feature of all of our post-Chicken Ranch compacts. You also see language that would allow the tribe to self-insure rather than purchase commercial liability insurance in the context of those torts. You see an extended compact term to 2061 and happy to answer any other questions, but I think that's the basic shape of the amendment. Thank you.
Any comments? I will turn it over to my colleague, Senator Richardson.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I have just a general question for Mr. Lee. I noticed with some of these, the slot machines are raised at an increase of 500. Is there a reason why, is there a limitation to 500? What is the magic number of why it's 500 and not more? Or do they have the ability to secure more? Or what's the issue there? Or why is it that way?
Great question. There's no magic number when it comes to the number of gaming devices or gaming facilities or things like that. You know, we always try to be cautious about any expansion of gaming, especially in the post-Chicken Ranch world where one of the relatively small number of topics that are near and dear to the state's heart that we're able to bargain hard over is the size and scale and also location of casino-style gaming activity. So we do try to be very thoughtful and cautious about any increase or expansion there. That said, in each of the compact amendments here, we were able to land on a negotiated number that is higher than the status quo under the existing compact while being cautious about going too high. So I'm going to date myself a little bit here. I was a staff member when the compacts were first brought forward. I worked for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Vistamante. And there was something he said, and I realize that, Mr. Newsom, and I don't know if you'll be continuing in your role, but Madam Chair, as I know for sure, we will be. You know the Lieutenant Governor used to say we don tell McDonald how many burgers they can make or sell and I respect the concern of size and all of that but I also think that of the gaming facilities that I been in a lot of them are in large part not only with the gaming facility but the entire resort area, age of 21 and older. And I just really think at some point it would be nice for us to get away from. I don't know if it's our decision and our limitation. It sounds like we might have a concern. But I really would hope that we give the tribal nations, and I even hesitate to use the word give because I don't think it should be give. It's their land and their rights. And so it just stuck me that I see these at 500 increments. And I would hope going forward, Madam Chair, that it would be interesting to me to see what the original request is. And if for some reason we have the ability to adjust in that, I think that we should. Because this isn't, you know, if a tribal nation is willing to build a facility that's large enough to hold enough machines, you know, what business is it of mine, frankly, whether they have, let's see, 3,000 or whether they have 5,000? And I think when people are coming to participate in the evening and, you know, the activity and all of that, if it provides a better, you know, environment, you know, who am I to decide? So I would just hope that maybe you can take that back and also we'll consider going forward. I don't know what this number of 500 is, but I would really like to hear in the future what the tribal nations feel is the appropriate number and increment. We're not privy to those initial negotiations, so we have no idea. But it just seems to me that, like I said, in the honor of my old boss, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, okay, you know, we don't tell In-N-Out when they buy a facility, you can only sell 5,000 double-doubles in a month. If you can sell 10,000, you know, so be it. And it just seems that we really, as long as the compacts, the original compacts now have been into effect, I think, you know, I'd like to see us really grow from, grow in time and understanding and in agreement. I won't say support because to me it's not support. It's their land and they're entitled to do their business. So hopefully down the road next year we can have further conversations since we're not privy, but for this committee to better understand what the request is and, again, not request because I don't think it should be a request, but really what the tribal nations interest is so we can be more supportive. And as long as, you know, complying with safety and fire hazards, you know, other than that, I'd like to see a greater agreement going forward. Thank you.
Thank you. And I know everything is subject to negotiations, but would either one of you care to address her question about the limitations, 500 increments? Go ahead.
Without necessarily speaking to the nitty-gritty of any specific negotiation, because, of course, it's always a back and forth. and oftentimes it's just a matter of what that back-and-forth process and that dialogue can produce when you have representatives of two different governments potentially with two different sets of interests in their own. I think from our perspective, two additional things I would flag are as we understand the ballot initiative that legalized tribal gaming back in 2000, that was Proposition 1A, an important part of the promise or the commitment that was made to voters when that ballot initiative was passed was that tribal gaming would remain geographically limited, that we're not going to see big casinos in downtown San Francisco or Oakland or places like that. Now, geographic limitation isn't necessarily the same thing as limits on tribal gaming in general, but we do try to take the spirit of Prop 1A to heart in terms of being careful and thoughtful about not simply throwing open the door to unlimited gaming, doing what we can to make sure that any growth in tribal gaming is cautious and incremental. And I think the second flag from our perspective is in some ways that has become even more important in a post-chicken ranch world. If we were able to bargain for a broader universe of things on the back end, it in some ways would be easier to open the door to a more significant increase in the scale of potential gaming activities on the front end. But in a world where we are very limited in our ability to bargain over things like the impacts of large-scale casino-style gaming, I think we see that as an additional reason not to break from our prior practice of being cautious about that potential expansion.
Madam Chair, could I reply?
Absolutely.
With all due respect, we're probably going to agree to disagree. But that's what reservation shopping is all about, that tribal nations have identified areas in which they have gained recognition. And it's my understanding, for example, one tribal nation can't go into another one. So the issue of, oh, we've got to protect geographic, to me, inherent within their own recognized territories, identify the span of the area. And, again, I'm really going to push back that I think we need to move forward in our thinking. We don't restrict that a Canes chicken place can operate. I'll give you one of the cities I represent, City of Carson. There's a Chains Chicken restaurant. There's a Chick-fil-A. There's an In-N-Out. There's a Tony Roma's. There's a Chili's. Let the people decide where they want to go and what they want to do. I think if an area and a community doesn support something The business will show it for itself and people will say well no you know there 10 there really too many you know I only want to go to this one because of this reason But for us two, and I realized the, again, I was the staffer, I was here, I don't know if you were here, but I was here when the compacts first came forward, and I'm quite familiar with, you know, this building and, you know, just not literally this building. It was over at the Capitol. But, you know, it was a big thing.
But I just think at some point we have to progress with time. And I think people have obviously shown an interest. There's more than gaming at these facilities. There's entertainment. There's all sorts of other. There's spas. I went to an incredible massage that I had three weeks ago during our district work period. I mean, there's other parts of the business. And I just really think, Madam Chair, that as we go into next year, there really needs to be a new thinking of the areas that we operate in and have an agreement that we really begin to, I think, rethink are the things, you know, that we're focused on, is that really the best and the issue and way to go in. I didn't mean to only do this in San Ynez's portion, so I apologize, Mr. Chairman, about that. But I just saw it consistently with all of these, the same number, and I felt this was a good time to bring it up. So I look forward to working with you, Madam Chair. But I think I made my point, and I just hope we can move forward to broader thinking in this 21st century. Thank you.
Thank you, Senator. I would like to now invite anyone wishing to speak on this matter to come up to the microphone.
Oh, I'm sorry. Adam Chair? That's what happens when someone derails a conversation.
Appreciate your comments. And welcome. Good to see you again.
Absolutely.
Whenever you're ready.
Good morning. Good morning, Chair Rubio and members of the committee. My name is Kenneth Kahn. I'm chairman of the San Dines Band of Chumash Indians. I'm here to respectfully ask for your support of Senate Bill 542, authored by Senate President Pro Tempor Monique Limon, to ratify our 2026 Tribal State Gaming Compact Amendment. Our Chumash people have lived in the Santa Barbara region since time immemorial. Our Aboriginal ties to these lands are profound, and our history is one of perseverance, cultural strength, and enduring responsibility to future generations. Among the amended terms, the extension of our compact is especially important. It provides the long-term certainty our tribal government needs to plan responsibly, invest wisely, and continue building a secure future for our people. Our tribal enterprise supports approximately 2,000 jobs. The stability provided by this amendment will help protect those jobs and families who depend on them. It will also sustain our significant economic impact throughout the Tri-County region by supporting local businesses, vendors, contractors, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies. Gaming revenues allow our tribal government to provide health care, education, social welfare services, cultural programming and essential infrastructure, including housing that enables more of our people to live within our community and remain connected to their culture and ancestral homeland. This compact extension is about far more than just gaming It is about economic security responsible tribal governance cultural preservation and our continued ability to care for our people while contributing to the broader region On behalf of the San Dinas Band of Chumash Indians, I thank President Pro Tem Limon for authoring SB 542, and I respectfully ask for your support in advancing this bill and for your aye vote when it does come before you on the Senate floor. Kaki Nash, and thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Now I would like to invite members of the audience, if you wish, to speak on this matter. Please come up to the microphone. Seeing no interest, thank you so much for joining us here today. And this concludes this presentation, this informational hearing. I will now move over to Second Amendment to the Tribal State Compact between State of California and the UHA Vietam of San Manuel Nation to join us up here. We have, first again, Mr. Lee and Johnny Hernandez, vice chairman, as well as Dawn Rowe, chairwoman of San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, I believe, here with us today. Thank you. When you're ready, Mr. Lee, you may begin.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. This is another compact amendment similar to the amendments that you've already heard about from Agua Caliente and Senena's Chumash and that you will hear about shortly involving Pechanga, in which we have a tribal government that has really been an excellent partner to the state that is focused on maintaining a productive, respectful, collaborative government-to-government relationship with the state, not just in a post-Chicken Ranch context, but really across the board. And so what you see in the amendment before you is that same kind of bargain that we've been describing so far. You see a promise not to sue over those revenue terms that I've highlighted. You see from the tribal government side, you see, in fact, a redoubled and extended commitment to pay even an increased supplement into the revenue-sharing trust fund beyond what the tribe had any existing obligation to pay. In return, you do see an increase in the number of gaming devices. It's 1,000 additional devices this time for a total of 8,500. You see some of the similar geographic flexibility to the kind of geographic flexibility I was describing in the context of the Fort Mojave Compact. There is a provision in this compact amendment for a future two-part determination. if there ever is such a future two determination by the Secretary of the Interior and if a future governor concurs in it then this compact amendment would allow gaming at the site that was approved through that two-part determination process. You also see a provision in the compact that is relatively common in some of our more recent compacts that requires the state to reenter into negotiations if the state ever does legalize a new form of Class III gaming so that the compact could be updated to account for that. You see an extended compact term to 2051, and you see the same kind of standard post-Chicken Ranch cleanup that we've been discussing in other compacts. Happy to take any questions, but that's the basic shape of the amendment.
Thank you for your testimony. and this is so important to me. Unfortunately, I'm being summoned to the Senate floor on a very time-sensitive matter, so I will have to turn it over to my vice chair to take over from this point. So I apologize. I'm going to have to turn it over to you. Thank you so much. I have to go take care of the matter, and hopefully I'll be right back. But again, I appreciate you, my colleague, Senator Ochoa Boga will continue with this matter. Thank you.
I'm in luck. Good morning. I'm Senator Ochoa Boga, and I'll just be taking care just while Senator or Chair Rubio will be out. We're going to continue now with our second presenter, Mr. Johnny Hernandez, Vice Chairman of the Yuhaviatam of San Manuel Nation. Thank you.
Well, good morning. And for disclosure for the public, this is my tribe in Senate District 23 before every district in 24. So, yes, these are personal friends of mine. Good morning, Vice Chair Ochoa Bo and honorable committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments regarding the tribal state compact amendment that the Yajavea Thomas-Samuel Nation has recently agreed with Governor Gavin Newsom. My name is Johnny Hernandez, Vice Chairman of the Yajavea Thomas-Samuel Nation, and I respectfully ask for your support in AB 1579 when it reaches the Senate floor. Our tribe, formerly known as the Samuel Band of Mission Indians, reclaimed our ancestral name to the Yajavea Thomas-Samuel Nation. Our reservation was established in 1891 on just 640 acres in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. though our ancestral territory expands more than 7.4 million acres throughout Southern California. This year marks 40 years since we have opened our tribal bingo hall in 1986, a milestone made possible by the vision and determination of our tribal leaders who saw economic self-sufficiency for future generations and to provide critical service to our tribal citizens. California voters played an important role in that journey. Through Prop 5 and later Prop 1A, Californians affirmed that tribal governments should have the opportunity to conduct gaming on tribal lands as a means of supporting self-reliance, creating jobs, and funding essential government services. Today, tribal gaming in California is among the most highly regulated forms of gaming in the nation. Tribal operations are regulated through state, tribal, and federal oversight, including tribal state compacts, PAX, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and revealed by the National Indian Gaming Commission.
You have your time, Sam. Well done.
has proven to be a responsible steward in this industry. We maintain comprehensive programs that promote responsible gaming, help prevent problem gambling, and provide support and resources for those who need assistance. Our commitment is not simply to operate successfully, but to operate responsibly and with integrity. In recognition of these efforts, we were recently honored by the California Council of Problem Gambling for the 19th consecutive year as a responsible gaming establishment. The success of tribal government gaming has allowed our nation to become a strong partner with California as well as local governments, businesses, nonprofit organization, and labor. We have contributed nearly $500 million in philanthropic grants as one of the region's largest employers with nearly 8,000 team members and provide more than $627 million in annual compensation. Our amended compact reflects the same commitment to partnership. It supports long-term planning and self-reliance for our nation, provides additional support for limited and non-gaming tribes through the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, and creates significant benefits for California communities. Tribal gaming, when regulated with integrity and guided by tribal values, strengthens tribal governments, support local economies, and creates lasting benefits for communities throughout California. And thank you for the opportunity to be here before you today and I respectfully ask for your support in AB 1579. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Vice Chairman Hernandez. We're now going to continue with our third witness, and that would be our very own supervisor, Chairwoman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, Don Rau.
Welcome. Thank you very much, and good morning, everyone. Vice Chairwoman Ochoa Bogue and members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to speak on behalf of San Bernardino County in support of Yuhavia Tom of San Manuel Nation and their Tribal State Compact Agreement. My name is Dawn Rau, and I am currently the chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors and also the third district supervisor, which is home to Javier Tom and the nation. I wanted to share with you my personal viewpoint of the compact. Prior to becoming a supervisor, I really just thought it was about gaming, and I didn't have much of an awareness of how it interacted with the people. And while it is about entertainment, and as you heard Vice Chair Hernandez talk about the amount of jobs and employment it brings to our county, which is tremendous because entertainment is something that San Bernardino County welcomes and is a part of our workforce, and it provides quality of life for our residents, it's also about other things. It's about tribal sustainment, and it is about philanthropic efforts and how they interplay with our county. I didn't understand until I became a supervisor the impact that that had and where we became partners in being able to serve our residents in a much greater depth because of their philanthropic efforts. And it spans all different kinds, whether it's health care and the maternal fetal ward over in Loma Linda and all things environments that are important to our county. They have been there as a great partner for us, and this compact will enable that to continue. I'd also like to share that for our other tribal partners throughout the state, the revenue-sharing trust fund, the amount that they contribute into that really helps those non-gaming tribal entities throughout the state. And then to speak to Senator Richardson and what you had to say earlier about the intergovernmental agreements that we have with our partners in the IE specifically in San Bernardino County whether it our district attorney that they have an agreement with or our sheriff department and notably also fire. We had the line fire not too long ago, and Yuvia Tom, their fire department, trains with our county fire department. They have programs in support where they go in tandem, and so we're almost an extension of one another. And so through the district attorney, sheriff, and the fire, we are one basically in the county. And we value that cooperative partnership that we have. And we have been able to save reservation lands and our own community members because of the agreement. So with all of those reasons, I would highly encourage support when this hits the floor of ABC 1579. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Supervisor Rao. We're now going to continue with any public comment that we may have here. please approach the microphone, state your name and your organization and your support.
Madam Chair, members, Joe Cruz on behalf of the California State Council of Laborers. I just want to speak to the incredible partnership that we have with the tribe and what they do locally as far as creating opportunities, economic opportunities, and job creation has been paramount in moving people into the middle class. And in San Bernardino, it's important that we keep creating opportunities for people to live where they work, and this is a good example of that partnership. So we respectfully ask for an aye vote when it comes before you. Thank you. Madam Chair and members, my name is Dylan Lasofsky. I'm with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. We're in support of the amended compact with the Javier Thomas-San Manuel Nation and to some of the comments that Chairwoman Rao made in regards to the collaboration that we have with the tribe. We also provide the contract law enforcement services and work with our Department of Public Safety, you know, every day. So we are very much appreciative of your guys' consideration and urge your aye vote. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much, our witnesses. Seeing no other public comment, we're going to go ahead and would you like to close or make any final statements? Very good. Okay. So now we're going to get questions. We'll bring you back to the dais. Any questions, comments?
Yes. Mr. Vice Chairman, could you talk a little bit about your team members? You mentioned how many you have. When I have been there, I oftentimes ask people, how long have you been here? And whether it's from the person who's cleaning the room or the person who's doing, you know, lobster night, you know, they're all saying 30 years, 20 years, seven years. They talk about there's a day that you have with your team members of going to Universal Studios where you're pulling the people together. When I was speaking earlier, Mr. Lee, what I was really trying to convey is I think we have to understand that the tribal nations have evolved quite well. And they're doing things that even many of the companies, you know, throughout all of our districts are not doing. So if you could just share a little bit about your team members and how long some of them have been there, what are some of the things that you're doing? because I think it's important that the public really understands, you know, that this is not, you know, this is not a mom and pop, you know, business kind of, I mean, it's an effectively run business that I was so glad to hear the supervisor the comments for people to understand the value that is brought to the state of California So if you could just expand Vice Chairman Yes. Yeah, thank you for the question. Yeah, we have 8,000 employees, and we do many things for them. Actually, before we continue on, we actually recently celebrated we have three employees that have been with us for 40 years, so from the beginning of gaming. And they're still with us, too. They're not planning on retiring maybe the next couple years. But, yeah, things like we really do view the team members as an extended part of our family. We do things like we have a dependent scholarship that we offer them, so any of our team members that have any dependents, then we do scholarships for them. I think you had referenced our team gathering. We provide two dates for our team members to go to Universal with their dependents, and we actually will shut down the park towards the end of the night so they can have that private time and also with all the team members gather. And, you know, we truly do care. During COVID, we kept all of our employees on and we paid them because that's, you know, we understand, you know, this is people's livelihoods. So we want people to grow with us and we want people to continue with us. Yeah, so we do as much as we possibly can to take care of our team members. Thank you.
And I've just been alerted that we do have one more public comment.
Madam Chair, apologies. Luis Sanchez here on behalf of the city of San Bernardino in strong support. Thank you.
Thank you very much. And I just want to just make final comments that the tribe has been an amazing partner, not just to just colloquially within the immediate area, but really regionally. And I'm very, very grateful and blessed to have you folks in our area and very thankful for all of the philanthropic work that you folks are doing within the area. Many of our nonprofits would not be able to survive if it were for your assistance, including our chambers of commerce as well as our public service nonprofits in our area. So thank you very much. I want to publicly just acknowledge the great work and generosity of the tribe to our communities. Thank you. Ms. Special, so we'll now formally close this session and go on to the next one. We're going to continue with file item number six. This will be the Tribal State Gaming Compact between the state of California and the Uruk tribe of the Uruk Reservation in California. Okay. We're now, we will be having three, two witnesses here. We're going to have Matthew Lee, Senior Advisor for the Tribal Negotiations Office of the Governor of Gavin Newsom, as well as Joseph L. James, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation, California, and he will be remotely joining us today. Please proceed when you're ready.
Thank you very much. This is another new Tribal State Gaming Compact to replace an expiring compact from 1999. Like the Fort Mojave compact that was described to this body earlier, it is relatively straightforward. It is consistent with other recent tribal state gaming compacts that this body has seen. It is a relatively small gaming compact. We're talking about 349 devices across three facilities. Standard terms regarding payment into the special distribution fund to defray the state's regulatory costs. standard terms regarding some of the health and safety and water quality and building code standards that we were discussing earlier standard terms to protect workers including state minimum wage other state law protections that tribal labor relations ordinance that we were discussing earlier. So all in all, very much in line with other recent tribal state gaming compacts that this body has seen. Thank you very much.
California and New York Tribe of the Uruk Reservation. I want to acknowledge Governor Newsom, Matthew Lee, and his team for their professionalism and their commitment throughout the negotiation process. This compact signed by the Nisaf and the government reflects a collaborative positive government to government effort between the state of California and New York Tribe. The Uruk Tribe is the largest tribe in California by both population and land place. We are fortunate to occupy our original homelands on the Pacific Coast in Northern California and inland on the Klamath River. Our homelands are remote, rugged, breathtaking area of the state. We are deeply committed to these lands in engaging in extensive efforts to manage our forest lands, watersheds, and wildlife in sustainable and effective ways. In our rural region, economic opportunity has historically been limited. The tribes of the Rigital Del Casino in Klamath is an important part of our tribal economy. Though modest in size, it supports something much larger. It is part of a broader vision of our people in the region. The greater hotel to provide much needed jobs in the Klamath community. Revenue from the hotel casino is used to support a priority of the tribes over 40 distinct programs. These programs support our tribal citizens, land management activities, and are a critical part of our efforts to protect natural resources in our homelands and beyond. The hotel casino also serves as a critical component of our tourism economy, providing lodging, food and entertainment for those who visit our lands to engage in the various outdoor recreational activities the tribe and its people provide. The compact itself is straightforward. Under the new compact, New York Traveling Marine, a limited gaming tribe operating our modest gaming locations in climate with the options to operate a third, a small facility on the tribe's various lands in Humboldt County. All facilities combined, the Tribal operate no more than 349 Class III gaming machines, as mentioned in the Minister Lee. The provisions of our new compact are consistent with those contained in other Tribal State gaming compacts, which was negotiated by the News Administration and ratified by the California Legislature. Overall, the Compact is a well-balanced agreement that advances economically for our Tribal and protects the entire gaming of our public interest. On behalf of the Yard Tribe, I respectfully ask the committee support for the bill that we ratified this compact when it is taken up on the Senate floor. On behalf of myself, our tribal council, and our people, thank you for this time.
Thank you very much, Chairman James. We'll now continue with any public comment here. Okay, see no public comment. We'll bring it back to the dais. Any comments, questions?
They're doing well.
Okay, we have a thumbs up on that end, so we'll go ahead and close this section. We'll now continue with file item number seven. First Amendment to the Tribal State Compact between the State of California and the Pechanga Band of Indians. We'll have in this panel Matthew Lee, Senior Advisor for the Tribal Negotiations, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, and Mark A. Macarro, Chairperson of the Pechanga Band of Indians. Welcome and good morning.
Thank you. Good morning. Please proceed when you're ready.
Thank you very much. And just want to say again that this compact amendment, like some of the others we've seen this morning, is another situation in which we have a tribal government that has really been an excellent partner to the state, not just when it comes to Class III gaming and the post-Chicken Ranch environment, but really across the full spectrum of our government-to-government relationship. And so I think you see that reflected in the same basic kind of compact amendment that we've been discussing a few other times so far this morning. You see the same affirmation from the tribe that is not going to sue over certain compact terms because that's just not the kind of relationship that it has with the state. You also see that, I think, reflected in some of the other compact terms. And this, I think, goes to a very good point that Senator Richardson was making earlier. One of the ways in which I like to think that the state has gotten better as a government in recognizing and respecting the tremendous work that its fellow governments, the tribes, can do is greater recognition, including in these gaming compacts, of the important public services, the important government services that the tribal governments can provide as governments. And so just to make that a little more concrete in the context of this particular amendment, the tribe's existing compact had a provision that – had and has a provision that requires it to pay into what's called a local community benefit fund, which is intended to fund, you know, local public services, which could be, you know, education, fire protection, all of the other important government services. that we've been talking about so far this morning. And I think it's important to recognize that Pechanga, like other tribal governments, is more than capable of providing those services itself. It runs its own health care facility. It runs its own school. It runs its own fire department. And so in the tribe's older compact, I think you saw sort of at least an implicit assumption that tribal government support for government services necessarily implied paying other governments to provide that service. And one of the things that we're trying to do in this compact amendment is being more thoughtful and more respectful about recognizing that tribal governments actually do a great job of providing those services themselves. And so we have you know clarified and expanded the scope of that local community benefit fund to confirm that of course if the tribe is spending that money on its own services of course that counts. Of course that's the kind of thing that this fund is meant to promote. So I really do want to express tremendous gratitude and appreciation and respect for all of the public services that Pechanga, like other tribal governments, provides in the exercise of its own sovereignty. Happy to say more about that flexibility on the revenue terms. You see, again, a little more flexibility in terms of the scale of gaming activities, another thousand device increase here. You see sort of that standard post-chicken ranch cleanup I've been describing and also some technical cleanup to align some of the more technical provisions of the compact with more recent compacts in ways that work a little more smoothly for everybody. Finally, there's an extended compact term to 2060. And by way of closing, do just want to make sure to acknowledge when it comes to all of the tribal governments that have worked with us to present the compacts and compact amendments that are before this body today, really do want to express tremendous gratitude and appreciation and respect. Structurally, sometimes I feel like the federal law in question here is not designed to make our lives easy. You put two governments across the table from each other, and it seems like that is a natural recipe for disagreement because, of course, governments have their own interests, and it's appropriate that they should stand up for those interests. but it really is striking to me that the process with Pechanga and with the other tribes that have been here today has been so respectful and mutually productive and supportive and it really I think does demonstrate the kinds of great things that Senator Richardson was alluding to when you see different governments working together for the public good and so with that I just wanted to close with another gratitude and appreciation and respect and happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. So I am back. Thank you for indulging me, trying to take care of some business across the street. I appreciate it, but I know that you just went, so I will move over now to Chairman Mark McCarroll. Is this on? Oh, yeah, it is. Okay. Good morning, Chairwoman Rubio and members of the committee.
My name is Mark McCarrow, and I have served as the tribal chairman for the Pechanga Band of Indians in Temecula since 1995, 31 consecutive years. And I also currently have the distinct privilege of serving as the president of the National Congress of American Indians based in Washington, D.C. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss this First Amendment to the 2016 Tribal State Compact. Now, Pechaga is located on a small vestige of our Aboriginal land in southwest Riverside County in Temecula Valley. Our land base also includes 80 acres in San Diego County. Our reservation consists of nearly 10,000 acres and over 2,285 enrolled tribal citizens. and we continue to grow. Members, I am proud to say that this is the largest our tribe has been since the human rights devastation of the Spanish mission period, which for us began with Mission San Luis Rey in 1798 Both in terms of a massive 90 population loss from the missions and also the loss of our tribal territory and land base all within one generation cohort So today, by contrast, we're able to live our culture and speak our language, a language that so many worked so hard to eliminate. And we work to recover our culturally significant lands and to protect our sacred sites. This resilience is rooted in something fundamental, the special relationship that Pechanga and all federally recognized tribes hold with the United States and the state of California. It's a relationship that is rooted in well-established federal policy that Indian nations are distinct, independent political entities that are independent, that we retain our original governance rights from time immemorial. We believe it's a fundamental obligation of each generation to cherish and protect these rights for our future generations. Now, members, when we opened our Pechanga Entertainment Center in 1995, we had a simple vision. To create jobs for our tribal members, to generate revenues for fundamental and modest tribal programs, like reliable drinking water for our residents, basic health care, educational opportunities for our young people, and cultural resource protection for the next generation. Our entertainment center opened in modular trailers with only 135 employees, but a fervent desire to break the poverty cycle which had long plagued our tribe. Thanks to the guidance and the wisdom of our tribe, our elders especially, the loyalty and the hard work of our team members, and the friendship and support of our neighbors and community members, Pechanga today directly employs more than 4,600 Californians, which translates to a statewide economic impact of $1.3 billion. dollars. Tribal gaming provides us important funding for critical governmental programs and essential services for our citizens including cultural resources protection, quality health care, environmental protection, water infrastructure, senior support programs, youth programs, scholarship funding, and energy projects, and more than I have time to list here. Our commitment to community extends well beyond our borders. Our fully equipped Pechanga Fire Department, for example, is an active participant in the state of California's Master Mutual Aid System and is regularly dispatched on strike team assignments to wildfires throughout California and beyond. For instance, on August 1st, one of our battalion chiefs was dispatched to Washington State to be part of an incident management team assignment to the Sinlahikin Fire, which is 30 miles from the Canadian border. He's still there on assignment, by the way. Six days later, on August 6th, PFD Brush One, our main first-role brush unit, was mobilized again on a strike team assignment, this time to the Gann Fire in Calaveras County. And also in this similar time frame here over the last two weeks, Brush One was also assigned to the Ridge Fire. They've since been demobilized and are back in station right now. Beyond that, PFD personnel are also trained, and they're highly trained as urban search and rescue personnel. They're also instructors for USAR. So they participate in California's Task Force 6, and it part of this regional FEMA USAR team which is sponsored by Riverside Fire Department So this team and our fire department personnel have deployed to major national disasters like the recovery effort for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, and also two years ago for Hurricane Helene in North Carolina in 2024. So most importantly, back home, we have developed a WASC-accredited pre-K through 5 school. It's a reservation school, bilingual school to revitalize our native language. But support for education, Pechanga support for education, does not end at our reservation border. Over the years, we've also donated over $7 million to local high schools in our valley for scholarships for the arts, athletics, and academic programs such as AVID. In total, we have donated over $40 million to nonprofits and schools throughout Southern California. Members, this first amendment to the compact reflects the mature and respectful government-to-government relationship between Pechaga and the state of California. The amendment is best understood as a compact modernization measure that brings the compact into compliance with recent federal court rulings and federal regulations. Pursuant to the IGRA, the Indian Regulatory Act of 1988, the amendment narrows the compact's focus to gaming-related operations, clarifies how certain revenue sharing and community benefit provisions will work going forward, and simplifies, repeals, and replaces several sections that are no longer consistent with applicable law or best compacting practices. It also gives the tribe the future flexibility to add up to 1,000 additional gaming devices if economic conditions warrant. Should we exercise that flexibility, it would generate additional jobs, economic benefits for the region, and statewide economic impact. This compact amendment respects the Pechanga Band's sovereign rights. Importantly, the provisions of this new agreement reflect many of the progressive values Pechanga and the state of California share. values that maintain our significant contributions to the Revenue Sharing Trust and Tribal Nations grant funds to support non-gaming and geographically challenged tribes. The amendment allows us to also build on the Local Community Credit Fund, which has proven an invaluable tool that has allowed us to fund fire protection services, police services, road improvements, and more. We wish to thank Governor Newsom, Matthew Lee, and the DOJ team for their respectful government-to-government engagement and mutual collaboration on this particular compact negotiation. In closing, let us seize this opportunity to build on the progress we've made together and strengthen our government-to-government relationship for future generations. We respectfully ask for your support of this First Amendment to the Pechanga Tribal State Compact. This is the end of my speech. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Now I'd like to invite anyone from the audience wishing to speak on this matter to come up to the microphone.
Madam Chair, members, Joe Cruz on behalf of the California State Council of Laborers. The chairman said a lot of good things about their investments to the local economy. And I want to echo some of those. It's an opportunity for the laborers to work with Pechanga on a lot of different fronts, but especially their investments in the infrastructure. Energy, water, and transportation, the Pechanga Parkway, the Paula Road Bridge, are all projects that put our members... work and it also allows us the opportunity to work where we live in the area, but they've been a great partner for us and we look forward to building this relationship down the road. So thank you very much.
Thank you. And I was wishing to speak. Okay, seeing no interest.
Well, first of all, thank you for joining us here today and congratulations. 31 consecutive years. That only speaks to your leadership and thank you also for leading. and Congress in Washington. Before I continue my comments, I'm going to turn it over to my colleagues to say a few words.
Thank you, Madam Chairman, Chairwoman. I think it's become obvious through this hearing why I wanted to be on GEO, government organization. Well, first of all, Mr. Lee, thank you for acknowledging some of the things I was trying to share today. I'm glad to hear that we're moving towards that direction, and certainly Pechanga is an example of long history and success. To the chairman, it's so wonderful to see you. In my community, we say old dogs don't die. For you, my brother, we're certainly not dogs, but I know that you believe ancestors, and those are elders that we respect. And I really, I don't, you know, we shouldn't take lightly of Chairman Macaro's presence here. You've been here many, many years, was a part of the start of this whole change of what we see today in California and have helped across this nation. And we're actually fortunate that we have you in California, that you can speak to the things that you mentioned and all the things that we learned here and how that now being translated But a lot of what I learned I learned because of knowing you and your work at Pachanga And I have nothing but respect and really thank you for what you've done for us and across the country. Long history family, so many people involved. I can tell I'm embarrassing you a little bit, but that's okay. It's good to be embarrassed every now and then. But in closing, I'd like to make a final comment about Pechanga and the work. You know, there's a lot of corporations today that we could say good things that are happening, not so good things that are happening. You're not a part of a leadership for 31 years and the success that you have demonstrated without doing a whole lot of good things. And, you know, our hats go off to you. And I just want to say publicly thank you. And keep doing what you're doing. We've talked a little bit about it, but Pachanga was one in the early days that understood that their success also needed to be translated to other tribes that don't have gaming facilities. facilities, just so many landmark policies that we take for granted today were actually really started many decades ago. So thank you, my brother, and it's a pleasure to support this ratification and new amendments coming forward. Thank you.
Thank you. Anybody else wishing to... Madam Chair,
can I respond to Senator's remarks?
Yeah.
Well, thank you very much for those remarks. Just one, This old dog has a meniscus issue in his right knee. But beyond that, though, I do appreciate the, I think the longevity of your understanding of tribal gaming here in California having been with us on basically the ground floor And so the part about taking certain policy elements of these compacts and tribal gaming for granted, that's a thing. There's a whole generation of adult tribal members who grew up before we had our first compact, who were born after that first compact. And so it's a constant education, I think, for all Californians. But we're here. We're here for it. And we're not letting up on the gas as long as the economy is decent enough for everyone. Thank you.
I just wanted to see if I'm trouble. You're good?
No, I'm just grateful. I think the challenge has actually done as evidence today. We just have an amazing line of tribes across the state who truly, truly take the responsibility of civic engagement as well as philanthropic work that is just phenomenal. And I don't think we would have the success that we do within those communities if it weren't for leadership that is upstanding and really understand both the humanity and also the appreciation of culture, maintaining that and moving forward. So thank you for your representation. Thank you for the advocacy, and thank you for the engagement with the local communities. Thank you.
And I'm excited to hear about having toured your school yet, but I would be happy to tour your school. Curious to see.
Happy to have you and all of you come out.
Well, thank you for that. Well, I have toured your schools. You know, first of all, I went when I was, you know, everyone knows I'm a former teacher, so I went to tour your schools, and I found very interesting. And tell me if that's still the case. You hired teachers that were not literate in the language, and they had to learn to teach. So you took all the teachers and that pretty to me incredible I was thinking of myself as an educator It hard enough to teach in a regular English classroom and these teachers that I witnessed teach your classes were extraordinary. But I wanted to also, again, just congratulate you on your leadership. Yes, 31 years in leading at the National Congress is really impressive. So thank you for taking your expertise. but I wanted just to add also clearly I've had a lot of jobs as a former council member I just want to say how thankful all the local municipalities continue to be not just with Pichanga but all of the tribes here today I know what you bring to the table in terms of resources when you talk about 7 million in scholarships I was one of the recipients in the early years of being a teacher and a council member so I know all of them from Barona and all these other tribes, you also go outside your reservation to support low-income and other struggling students outside your tribe. So that's very, we thank you as teachers, as community members. So to all of you as we conclude this hearing, thank you for the jobs you created. I started making a list of all the jobs that you mentioned, you know, 4,600 and another tribe. I mean, it is incredible. So this is a great partnership, but I also want to take the time to thank the governor. Mr. Lee, Thank you for all your work on this and for being here today to present on all the tribal compacts. And I just want to say that I will tour again. It's been a little while. And to everyone that came today, thank you for your time and thank you for your presentations.
And this concludes the Senate Organization Committee. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Thanks. Thank you.