San Francisco Chronicle: "Tribes would be willing to help bail California out of its fiscal hole but only if gambling restrictions are lifted, according to a new ballot initiative proposed by one of the state's richest tribes.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs, answering Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's repeated complaints that tribes don't pay their fair share of gambling profits, called on tribes to pay as much as corporations to the state general fund.
In exchange, they would be allowed to operate as many casinos as they choose on their reservations and to offer roulette and craps, games prohibited under current state law.
'It takes off the artificial limits that have been placed on us,' Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente tribe, said Thursday. 'It's our intent to create a fair share environment that tribes can adhere to. This will end the question of what the fair share is.'
The 412-member tribe has two casinos in Riverside County.
Milanovich said if the measure is approved by voters, its terms would apply only to tribes that want to renegotiate their 20-year agreements with the state to operate casinos. The amount of money for the general fund would be based on how many tribes participate.
The state currently collects $130 million from tribes that have casinos, but the money does not go into the general fund. Instead, it's deposited into two special funds earmarked to pay local governments for costs associated with casino operations. Some "