Governor Faults Prop. 70 Backers

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday criticized lawmakers -- mostly Republicans -- for taking money from Indian tribes and then endorsing a ballot measure pushed by several tribes that would expand Indian gambling.

“The legislators should not take money from the Indians, from the Indian gaming tribes, and then endorse Proposition 70. They should not,” the governor said Monday.

Schwarzenegger was repeating and amplifying remarks that he made Saturday at a closed-door fundraiser in Indian Wells, when he angered some Republicans who have received tribal funds and have endorsed the measure.

“I told them my mind about that,” the Republican governor said Monday.

Several Republican lawmakers who attended were taken aback and some were visibly upset, said lobbyists and others who were there and who spoke on condition that they not be named.

Schwarzenegger has made a point of not accepting money from tribes that own casinos, saying it would be improper because of the state’s extensive dealings with them.

Of the 10 lawmakers who are cited by sponsors of the initiative as having endorsed Proposition 70, nine are Republicans. Each has taken money from tribes that own casinos.

Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside), among the Republican legislators who have endorsed Proposition 70, said that in the view of many at the event, the governor was “poking some Republicans in the eye, including myself.”

“But he was certainly poking some of the tribes in the eye, unnecessarily so,” Morrow said.

Morrow said tribal donations have been influential in Sacramento. But he defended Republican legislators: “I know these people. I know their integrity. They are not influenced. If the governor was suggesting that our support of Proposition 70 was a matter of money, then he is just flat wrong.”

Morrow has received $11,000 from tribes since 2000. Others who have endorsed Proposition 70 have received far more. Sen. Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) has received more than $1 million from tribes since 1998, campaign finance reports show. Battin, who attended the Saturday event, could not be reached for comment.

Among the other Republicans who have endorsed the proposition are Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks, who has accepted at least $305,000 from casino-owning tribes since 2000, and Sen. Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, who has received at least $297,000 since 2000. McClintock could not be reached for comment. Brulte said he was not present for the governor’s remarks and declined further comment.

Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia), another lawmaker who has endorsed the proposition, shrugged off Schwarzenegger’s remarks.

“The governor has a right to his opinion,” he said. “I’m not surprised, and I’m not offended.”

He added that the about $4,750 that he had taken from Indian tribes had nothing to do with his endorsement. “This was not a tit-for-tat. One has nothing to do with the other,” he said.

Schwarzenegger was the main speaker at the weekend gathering held by Republican legislative leaders at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in the hopes of persuading GOP donors to give more money for the November legislative campaigns.

The governor laid out his positions on several major propositions on the Nov. 2 ballot, but paid particular attention to Proposition 70. That initiative would allow tribes to expand casinos on their land. In exchange, they would pay the state 8.84% of the net income from their gambling operations.

Schwarzenegger warned that Proposition 70 would unravel deals he had negotiated with five other tribes earlier this year. Those deals would allow the tribes to expand casinos on their reservations in exchange for paying the state $1 billion this year and as much as $150 million a year in annual payments.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which owns two casinos in and near Palm Springs, and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which owns a casino next to San Bernardino, have spent more than $22 million on Proposition 70.

They also are among the largest spenders on California politics. The Agua Caliente have spent more than $25 million on campaigns for California propositions and candidates since 1998; the San Manuel band has spent more than $51 million during that time.