DECEMBER 2002

EDITORIAL

Turning the other cheek

By Matt Connor  

In an era when the term “corporate conscience” is practically an oxymoron, it turns out that California’s fastest growing industry is giving more than its fair share of hard-earned profits to help out its neighbors.

During the doldrums of the Second Bush Recession, Golden State gaming tribes have experienced the only double-digit employment growth in the state, and despite their shabby treatment by non-Indian landowners in previous decades, the tribes have shown a tremendous amount of good will toward the communities that surround their reservation enterprises.

Tribal governments are not required by federal law to share revenue with local and state governments. Just the same, California’s tribal leaders agreed during compact negotiations three years ago to contribute to a revenue-sharing fund supporting local governments.

“Tribal governments made a commitment that they would help state and local governments impacted by gaming,” said Brenda Soulliere, chairwoman for the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. “We are honoring that commitment.”

Soulliere said that tribal governments have, in fact, exceeded what is legally required under the compacts, emphasizing that tribal governments from every part of the state have already committed to pay local municipalities $120 million over the next few years to reimburse them for fire and police protection, road improvements and other services.

“Tribal governments for generations have suffered from the impact of growth and development,” she added. “We can certainly sympathize with the concern city and county officials may have about tribal gaming. It is for this reason we established a process to enable local governments to share gaming revenues.”

For those who would dismiss this generosity by comparing tribal casinos to non-Indian corporate entities that return millions of dollars to local municipalities in the form of taxes, let me point out that tribal governments with casinos are being assessed 7 percent to 13 percent of the average win from each of their slot machines. This accumulative assessment is much higher than California’s 8.84 percent corporate income tax.

So once again, the tribal nations are giving more than their colleagues and associates in the non-Indian corporate world, and they’re funneling this largess where it’s needed most in this time of economic hardship — to towns and cities throughout California.

Making this gesture by California’s Native Americans more poignant is the fact that across the nation there are stories of Indian tribes that were once marginalized by local communities, or were prevented from accessing local services such as fire and rescue or water and sewer systems.

Tribal leaders in California have every reason to feel bitterly toward state, county and municipal governments that have not always treated them fairly. But they’ve decided to put the past behind them and use their resources for the overall good. And the citizens of California are much better for it.

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