Welcome to the Virtual UU Meeting House
Proposition 68
Non-Tribal Commercial Gambling Expansion. Tribal Gaming Compact Amendments.
Revenues. Tax Exemptions.
Should tribal compact amendments be authorized? Unless tribes accept, should casino gaming be authorized for sixteen non-tribal establishments? Percentage of gaming revenues fund government services.
- Official Summary, Pros & Cons
- Other Resources : Organizations , Articles, Reports, Links
- UU Commentaries
- Other California Ballot Propositions
Virtual UU Meeting House discussion: come on in, and read what people had to say.
Official Summary and Arguments
Authorizes tribal compact amendments. Unless tribes accept, authorizes casino gaming for sixteen non-tribal establishments. Percentage of gaming revenues fund government services. Fiscal Impact: Increased gambling revenues - potentially over $1 billion annually - primarily to local governments for additional specified services. Depending on outcome of tribal negotiations, potential loss of state revenues totaling hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Official
Voter Information Guide (pdf)
Source: California Secretary of State / Elections and Voter Information
Campaign
Finance Information
Source: California Secretary of State / Cal-Access
A YES vote on this measure means:
Slot machines would be authorized at 16 specific racetracks and card rooms, unless all Indian tribes with existing tribal-state gambling compacts agree to certain terms within 90 days. Under either scenario, local governments throughout the state would receive new gambling revenues, to be used primarily for additional child protective, police, and firefighting services.
A NO vote on this measure means:
Slot machines would not be authorized at race-tracks and card rooms. Indian tribes would continue to be subject to current tribal-state gambling compacts. Local governments would not receive new gambling revenues.
Arguments FOR Proposition 68
Proposition 68 means California's immensely profitable Indian Casinos should pay their fair share to support local services. Indian Casinos choose to make a 25% contribution and live by the same regulations that affect us all or the state will authorize limited competition with an even bigger return to communities.
Arguments AGAINST Proposition 68
Beware: Their "fair share" claim is a scam. 68 lets its funders - racetracks and card clubs - operate Las Vegas-sized casinos throughout California - near freeways and 200 schools. More traffic. More crime. Another broken promise to Indians. Governor Schwarzenegger, firefighters, sheriffs, police, tribes, taxpayers, labor, educators say: "No on 68!"
Related Proposition
For Proposition 68
Against Proposition 68
Governor
Schwarzenegger's Committee for Fair Share Gaming Agreements
Stop 68: Californians
Against the Deceptive Gambling Proposition
Nonpartisan Background and Analysis
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Gambling and the Future of California: Propositions 68 and 70
Selected Articles, Editorials, Opinions, Reports
2
bad bets on gambling
San Francisco Chronicle, September 26, 2004
Both
gambling measures failing but voters favor funding stem cell research
and requiring businesses to pay for health coverage
Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2004, as posted by NewsBank
An
analysis of TV ad on proposition 68
NBC4 - TV, September 24, 2004
Casino
battle taken to television
Los Angeles Times, September 21, 2004, as posted by NewsBank
Indian
casinos' foes sue horse racing tracks, backers of Prop. 68 among the plaintiffs
San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 2004
Passage
of gambling initiatives could cause legal tangles
The Desert Sun, September 16, 2004
Foes
say gambling vote could foil state
Los Angeles Times, September 15, as posted by NewsBank
Propositions
68 and 70 are a bad bet
San Jose Mercury News, August 30, 2004, as posted by NewsBank
Last updated on September 30, 2004
UU Commentaries
No commentary was received prior to our deadline. Please add your opinion and voice to the discussion below.
"That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts
will determine our lives, and character. "
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Whenever two good people argue over principles,
they are both right."
—Marie Ebner Von Eschenbach
SUPPORTERS SAY that Indian Casinos, to maintain their monopoly of slot machine operations, should contribute 25 percent of net revenues to a state fund. If they won't, supporters say they deserve to lose the slot-machine monopoly to card rooms and race tracks that will have to contribute to local governments.
OPPONENTS SAY Proposition 68 favors the gambling interests that supported it. Sixteen new casinos would result in urban areas and the revenues cannot be used to balance the state budget. They say this proposition would end the compacts already made with the Tribes.
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