SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed agreements with some Indian tribes extending their exclusive right to operate slot machines in California, but sharply scaled back estimates of what the tribes would pay the state in exchange.
Under the deals, signed amid fanfare at the ornate Memorial Auditorium three blocks from the Capitol, Schwarzenegger agreed to grant five of California's 107 tribes the right to expand casinos on their own land.
The accords, which require approval by the Legislature, would be valid until 2030.
The tribes would be required to pay the state $1 billion in the coming year, which they would obtain by financing a bond. The $1 billion would be used for transportation projects, the governor said. In addition, tribes would pay ever-larger sums for new slot machines beyond the current 2,000-slot cap imposed by Gov. Gray Davis in 1999.
"This is a fair deal for the tribes and for our state," Schwarzenegger said, appearing with leaders of the five tribes, his top aides and several labor and business leaders.
"This moment is absolutely historic," Anthony Pico, chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, said as he prepared to sign the compact.
The compacts, which run more than 30 pages, plus side agreements that cover many more pages, would expand the right of unions to organize workers at tribe-owned casinos. In exchange, unions would have to promise that they would not strike at the casinos.
"It is a bow to the tribes' sovereignty," said Jack Gribbon, California political director of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. Gribbon said that although the deal was "not perfect by any stretch," the union planned to lobby for its passage.
The accords also include detailed provisions that require tribes to adopt ordinances that mimic state environmental law and civil law that allows patrons who are injured to have their claims arbitrated.
Tribes would also agree to submit to binding arbitration when they have disputes with local government -- a provision lauded Monday by local government officials and decried by some tribes.
After signing the deal, Schwarzenegger -- draped in an ornamental blanket that tribes had presented him -- departed the stage. He did not answer questions about the agreement.
