TASIN

California Indian Tribes Honor Tribal-State Compacts

With First Contributions To Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund;

Riverside-San Bernardino Area Tribes Project Total Compact Contributions At More Than $1 Billion; Funds Will Assist Local Governments and Problem Gambling Programs

Los Angeles, California, October 30, 2002 -- Honoring the terms of the tribal-state gaming compacts signed in 1999, more than 100 members of nine Southern California tribal governments will gather on Wednesday to present a symbolic check for $1 billion dollars to state officials. The money represents the California tribes’ quarterly contributions to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund (SDF) for the next 18 years of the compacts. Wednesday, October 30^th, is the deadline for the tribes’ first quarterly contributions to the state treasury’s Special Distribution Fund as established by the California legislature.

The SDF fund was created by the tribes to help support local governments of communities impacted by tribal gaming operations; to assist in the support of problem gambling programs and to reimburse the state for regulatory costs. The SDF, established by a provision in the compacts, went into effect when California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1A in 2000.

The presentation of the funds will take place at 11:00 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building, 300 South Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles in the ground level auditorium.

Because the compacts require the state legislature, in consultation with the tribes, to specify how the funds are to be distributed, the check will be presented to State Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D), California State Senator Jim Battin (R) and State Senator Richard Polanco (D).

“Indian tribes believe in keeping their word. In 1998, under Proposition 5, California’s tribes promised to share the benefits of tribal government gaming with local communities and with non-gaming tribes. Our tribes are honoring their commitment

under the compacts and are delivering, in full and on time, the first installment due to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. We call upon the leadership of the state legislature to do its part in directing this money to local communities and other beneficiaries of this fund,” said Lynn Valbuena, chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN), a regional organization made up of tribal governments primarily in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

TASIN member tribes will, in the aggregate, contribute more money to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund than tribes in any other part of California. TASIN leaders estimate that the state will receive more than $16 million in their first quarterly contributions on Wednesday.

“Indian gaming, as it is known today throughout the United States, was born here in the Inland Empire. It will be the Inland Empire tribes that will deliver, in good faith, the bulk of the monies to the state of California over the course of this historic compact,” said Valbuena.

Cash contributions to the state and non-gaming tribes, represent only part of the important positive contribution that tribal gaming is making to California’s economy. The state Employment Development Department reported earlier this month that California tribal governments were the only employers in the state registering double-digit employment growth for the fiscal year ending this September. According to earlier economic impact studies, tribal gaming has generated more than 50,000 jobs in the state and resulted in the purchase of more than $4.4 billion in goods and services from California businesses.

“We want Californians to know that, thanks to their support, Indian self-reliance is working,” said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. “We are keeping the pledge we made to the people of California and we expect the state to do no less in seeing that the terms of the compacts are kept.” Macarro served as the chief spokesperson for the Proposition 5 and 1A measures that were overwhelmingly passed the California voters to support tribal government gaming on Indian lands.

“The tribes have been deeply committed to ensuring that local communities that neighbor Indian gaming facilities receive, in a timely manner, the funds designated under the compacts and by Proposition 1A to assist us in dealing with any impacts from tribal gaming on traffic, community infrastructure and public services, including law enforcement,” said Banning Mayor John Hunt.

Hunt has been heading a task force of 16 local governments that has been working with TASIN tribes to ensure that the legislature honors the terms of the compact and sends Special Distribution Fund monies to the local communities impacted by tribal gaming operations.

Under the compacts, only the 28 California tribes that were operating more than 200 gaming devices on September 1, 1999 are obligated to contribute to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. According to TASIN tribal leaders, 19 other tribes throughout the state will also be making their quarterly contributions to the state. Funds contributed are projected to total at least $60 million annually, with increases expected between now and expiration of the compacts in 2020.

A second compact provision, enacted by the California tribes and unprecedented in the nation, provides for gaming tribes to share revenue with non-gaming tribes. To date, an estimated $50 million has been sent to the state by California gaming tribes for this purpose. This would bring total projected contributions to date to the state from California Indian tribes to more than $100 million. This amount is in addition to the millions of dollars that California tribes now donate to local charities and other community organizations statewide.

The members of TASIN include the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Augustine Band of Mission Indians, Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Cahuilla Band of Indians, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Ramona Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

ADVISORY TO TV NEWS ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: Tribal leaders will be available for satellite interviews and there will be b-roll footage available through our satellite service Media Link. Please call Jacob Mejia at 562-505-5600 to arrange for either interviews or b-roll.

ADVISORY TO PRINT EDITORS: Tribal leaders are also available for phone interviews and photos from the press conference are available via e-mail. Please contact Waltona Manion at 818-404-7271.

TRIBAL ALLIANCE OF SOVEREIGN INDIAN NATIONS

PROVISIONS OF THE TRIBAL-STATE GAMING COMPACT FOR THE SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION FUND

5.2. Use of Funds

The state share of the gambling device revenue shall placed in a special distribution fund, available for appropriation by the legislature for the following purposes;

A) grants, including any administrative costs, for programs designed to address gambling addiction;

B) grants, including any administrative costs, for the support of state and local government agencies impacted by tribal government gaming;

C) compensation for regulatory costs incurred by the state gambling agency and the state department of justice in connection with the implementation and administration of the compact;

D) payment of shortfalls that may occur in the revenue-sharing trust fund and;

E) any other purposes specified by the legislature. It is the intent of the parties that the compact tribes will be consulted in the process of identifying purposes for grants made to local governments.

LIST OF 28 TRIBES CONTRIBUTING TO SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION FUND

Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians

Barona Band of Mission Indians

Big Sandy Rancheria

Big Valley Rancheria

Bishop Paiute Tribe

Cabazon Band of Mission Indians

Cahuilla Band of Indians

Chicken Ranch Rancheria

Colusa Indian Community

Hopland Band of Pomo Indians

Jackson Rancheria

Mooretown Rancheria

Morongo Band of Mission Indians

Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians

Redding Rancheria

Robinson Rancheria

Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

Santa Rosa Tachi Tribe (Kings County)

Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians

Smith River Rancheria

Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians

Table Mountain Rancheria

Tule River Tribe

29 Palms Band of Mission Indians

Tyme Maidu

Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians


RELEASE:	Immediate
CONTACT:	Jacob Mejia or Rod Wilson at 562-505-5600
	Waltona Manion at 818-404-7271

California Indian Tribes Honor Tribal-State Compacts With First Contributions To Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund; Riverside-San Bernardino Area Tribes Project Total Compact Contributions At More Than $1 Billion; Funds Will Assist Local Governments and Problem Gambling Programs *Los Angeles, California, October 30, 2002* -- Honoring the terms of the tribal-state gaming compacts signed in 1999, more than 100 members of nine Southern California tribal governments will gather on Wednesday to present a symbolic check for $1 billion dollars to state officials. The money represents the California tribes’ quarterly contributions to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund (SDF) for the next 18 years of the compacts. Wednesday, October 30^th, is the deadline for the tribes’ first quarterly contributions to the state treasury’s Special Distribution Fund as established by the California legislature. The SDF fund was created by the tribes to help support local governments of communities impacted by tribal gaming operations; to assist in the support of problem gambling programs and to reimburse the state for regulatory costs. The SDF, established by a provision in the compacts, went into effect when California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1A in 2000. The presentation of the funds will take place at 11:00 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building, 300 South Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles in the ground level auditorium. Because the compacts require the state legislature, in consultation with the tribes, to specify how the funds are to be distributed, the check will be presented to State Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D), California State Senator Jim Battin (R) and State Senator Richard Polanco (D). “Indian tribes believe in keeping their word. In 1998, under Proposition 5, California’s tribes promised to share the benefits of tribal government gaming with local communities and with non-gaming tribes. Our tribes are honoring their commitment under the compacts and are delivering, in full and on time, the first installment due to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. We call upon the leadership of the state legislature to do its part in directing this money to local communities and other beneficiaries of this fund,” said Lynn Valbuena, chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN), a regional organization made up of tribal governments primarily in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties. TASIN member tribes will, in the aggregate, contribute more money to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund than tribes in any other part of California. TASIN leaders estimate that the state will receive more than $16 million in their first quarterly contributions on Wednesday. “Indian gaming, as it is known today throughout the United States, was born here in the Inland Empire. It will be the Inland Empire tribes that will deliver, in good faith, the bulk of the monies to the state of California over the course of this historic compact,” said Valbuena. Cash contributions to the state and non-gaming tribes, represent only part of the important positive contribution that tribal gaming is making to California’s economy. The state Employment Development Department reported earlier this month that California tribal governments were the only employers in the state registering double-digit employment growth for the fiscal year ending this September. According to earlier economic impact studies, tribal gaming has generated more than 50,000 jobs in the state and resulted in the purchase of more than $4.4 billion in goods and services from California businesses. “We want Californians to know that, thanks to their support, Indian self-reliance is working,” said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. “We are keeping the pledge we made to the people of California and we expect the state to do no less in seeing that the terms of the compacts are kept.” Macarro served as the chief spokesperson for the Proposition 5 and 1A measures that were overwhelmingly passed the California voters to support tribal government gaming on Indian lands. “The tribes have been deeply committed to ensuring that local communities that neighbor Indian gaming facilities receive, in a timely manner, the funds designated under the compacts and by Proposition 1A to assist us in dealing with any impacts from tribal gaming on traffic, community infrastructure and public services, including law enforcement,” said Banning Mayor John Hunt. Hunt has been heading a task force of 16 local governments that has been working with TASIN tribes to ensure that the legislature honors the terms of the compact and sends Special Distribution Fund monies to the local communities impacted by tribal gaming operations. Under the compacts, only the 28 California tribes that were operating more than 200 gaming devices on September 1, 1999 are obligated to contribute to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. According to TASIN tribal leaders, 19 other tribes throughout the state will also be making their quarterly contributions to the state. Funds contributed are projected to total at least $60 million annually, with increases expected between now and expiration of the compacts in 2020. A second compact provision, enacted by the California tribes and unprecedented in the nation, provides for gaming tribes to share revenue with non-gaming tribes. To date, an estimated $50 million has been sent to the state by California gaming tribes for this purpose. This would bring total projected contributions to date to the state from California Indian tribes to more than $100 million. This amount is in addition to the millions of dollars that California tribes now donate to local charities and other community organizations statewide. The members of TASIN include the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Augustine Band of Mission Indians, Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Cahuilla Band of Indians, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Ramona Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. ADVISORY TO TV NEWS ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: Tribal leaders will be available for satellite interviews and there will be b-roll footage available through our satellite service Media Link. Please call Jacob Mejia at 562-505-5600 to arrange for either interviews or b-roll. ADVISORY TO PRINT EDITORS: Tribal leaders are also available for phone interviews and photos from the press conference are available via e-mail. Please contact Waltona Manion at 818-404-7271. TRIBAL ALLIANCE OF SOVEREIGN INDIAN NATIONS PROVISIONS OF THE TRIBAL-STATE GAMING COMPACT FOR THE SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION FUND 5.2. Use of Funds The state share of the gambling device revenue shall placed in a special distribution fund, available for appropriation by the legislature for the following purposes; A) grants, including any administrative costs, for programs designed to address gambling addiction; B) grants, including any administrative costs, for the support of state and local government agencies impacted by tribal government gaming; C) compensation for regulatory costs incurred by the state gambling agency and the state department of justice in connection with the implementation and administration of the compact; D) payment of shortfalls that may occur in the revenue-sharing trust fund and; E) any other purposes specified by the legislature. It is the intent of the parties that the compact tribes will be consulted in the process of identifying purposes for grants made to local governments. LIST OF 28 TRIBES CONTRIBUTING TO SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION FUND Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians Barona Band of Mission Indians Big Sandy Rancheria Big Valley Rancheria Bishop Paiute Tribe Cabazon Band of Mission Indians Cahuilla Band of Indians Chicken Ranch Rancheria Colusa Indian Community Hopland Band of Pomo Indians Jackson Rancheria Mooretown Rancheria Morongo Band of Mission Indians Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians Redding Rancheria Robinson Rancheria Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Santa Rosa Tachi Tribe (Kings County) Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Smith River Rancheria Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians Table Mountain Rancheria Tule River Tribe 29 Palms Band of Mission Indians Tyme Maidu Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians