The Attorney General of California has agreed that the state will now have no role in regulating five tribal casinos. More Indian casinos may follow.
A federal trial court, and then, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that California lost its right to negotiate tribal-state compacts to co-regulate these casinos. The state had insisted that the tribes agree to enforce child and spousal support orders, abide by state environmental standards, and allow injured patrons to sue.
But, these are not topics listed in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”). The courts ruled that, by even asking the tribes to discuss topics that were not directly related to the regulation of casino gambling, the state had not been negotiating in good faith.
A majority of the Court of Appeals went so far as to declare that nothing the state could offer the tribes in return would undo the state’s bad faith.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has now agreed to abide by the courts’ decisions. There will be no tribal-state compacts. Instead, for the first time, tribes in California will be dealing solely with the federal government for controls normally found in the tribal-state agreements.