California: legal gambling battle results in $1.4 million in political donations

Garance Limouzy July 17, 2024

SiGMA news

California: legal gambling battle results in $1.4 million in political donations

An obscure legislative committee in California received nearly $1.4 million in campaign donations before voting on an important gambling bill.

Two opposing interests

Californian native nations argue that private card rooms have been illegally offering games such as blackjack, baccarat, and pai gow poker, infringing on the tribes’ exclusive rights and diverting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

The legal battle revolves around the tribes’ ability to sue their competitors, which is currently blocked by a loophole in California law. Senate Bill 549 would allow the tribes to take their competitors to court.

The battle over Bill 549 pits California’s 70 tribal casinos, which support the new gambling law, against their competitors, the private card rooms. Their conflicting views have led to one of the most expensive political battles in California, both sides contending for the votes of the Governmental Organisation Committee.

The 22-person committee, received $1.4 million and is the paragon of what political analysts call a “juice committee” for its oversight of lucrative industries from which one can “squeeze the money out.”

Committee received money from both sides

The tribes donated over $1 million to the committee in the last year and a half. In the weeks leading up to the vote, donations surged, with almost $100,000 in campaign contributions sent to the committee heads.

However, the committee also accepted money from the opposite side, the card rooms, which contributed nearly $393,000 since the beginning of 2023.

The committee’s chairperson received the largest amounts, with $125,000 from the card rooms and $95,000 from the tribes. She voted against the bill, rooting for the card rooms interests.

*Table: Jeremia Kimelman, CalMatters – Source: California Secretary of State.*

“Pretty darn suspicious”

Senate Bill 549 passed with 15 votes, needing 12 out of 22 to pass.

Members of the committee denied that any of the thousands of dollars they personally received for their campaign influenced their decisions during the vote. Pledging a vote in exchange for cash contributions is illegal in California.

However, Sean McMorris, the Transparency, Ethics, and Accountability Programme Manager for California Common Cause, questioned their claims. “No politician is ever going to tell you that money affects their vote, but the public isn’t stupid. It’s pretty darn suspicious that most of them voted based on where they got the most money from”, he said.