TASIN

	In 1988, Congress had the foresight and wisdom to draft and pass the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which permitted gaming on federally recognized reservations. This step has allowed many tribes to expand and diversify their economic enterprises. TASIN tribes have used the funds generated from gaming facilities to open and operate gas stations, retail stores, recycling plants, water bottling plants, banks and bowling alleys. Along with increasing the tribes’ economic holdings, these new businesses have created thousands of new jobs in parts of California that historically have suffered from high unemployment. Come out to one of the reservations and see just what Indian gaming has helped to create.
One important result of Indian gaming is the creation of more than 9,000 direct jobs in the Inland Empire alone by the TASIN tribes that reside there. John Husing, an Inland Empire economist, estimates that the annual payroll for five of the largest casinos in the area is $115 million annually, surpassing Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., the only Fortune 500 company based in the Inland region, with an annual payroll of $78.6 million. At a time when many Inland Empire businesses have slashed their workforce, Indian gaming casinos continue to need employees, thereby representing an oasis in an area where there are fewer adequate employment options. (Press Enterprise, February 24, 2002, "Casinos help build Inland work force" by Jack Katzanwk.) In Santa Barbara County, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is one of the largest employers in the region, providing more than 1,000 jobs.
Up and down the state of California, tribes are also developing non-gaming related businesses that also have a positive economic impact for surrounding communities. For example, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has built its own state-of-the-art water-bottling facility for its newly launched Big Bear Mountain Premium Spring Water, and the Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians has a telecommunications site on its reservation.
	The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians has a tire reclamation facility. Used tires are recycled for other uses such as certain types of construction projects, fuel for pulp and paper mills, fuel for cement kilns, chips for septic tank liners and landfill liners, and disposal. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs owns and operates its own tribal bank, offering financial services to its tribal members, other tribal nations and the general public as well. Today, the full economic impact by Native Americans and their businesses, including all related goods and services, is estimated at nearly $5 billion. These studies also show that of the approximately 50,000 employees in the state's Indian casinos, only 10 percent are American Indians.
Indian casinos have been an economic boost to the Coachella Valley as agricultural businesses were lagging. Casinos have a broader economic impact to the region, including the people working on construction crews, those who deliver food and other supplies to these establishments or run visitor-oriented businesses that are not on the reservation. These peripheral employment figures number in the thousands.

Here in the Inland Empire, communities with casinos nearby have welcomed them. For instance, the Pechanga Resort and Casino hosted the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce annual installation ceremony this past February and Banning High School will use the Morongo outside tent facility of its high school graduation ceremony. Some tribes like the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe have economically diversified with restaurants, gas stations and retail stores, while other tribes such as the Augustine Band uses its lands for agricultural purposes.
	Indian casinos, as well as the other economic enterprises of the California tribes, have had a three-fold effect. They have provided much-needed services to tribal members, enhanced community services, as well as provided funds, and jobs to the surrounding communities, such as the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians that operates one of the few medical clinics in the region. In Hemet, the Soboba Tribe has built a state-of-the-art gym and fitness center that can be used by groups in the local area.
Truly, the community benefits from donations to the organizations that rely on them to provide help to people in need, as seen by the generous nature of the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians.