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Church, California gaming tribes reach deal19 August 2008SACRAMENTO, California -- As reported by the San Diego Union Tribune: "The Catholic Church and California's Indian gaming tribes have struck a compromise that would permit a major expansion of conventional bingo while outlawing electronic versions played on machines that look and act a lot like slots. "Amendments outlining the agreement were inserted into a bill Monday, with lawmakers scrambling to wrap up business before adjourning for the year at the the end of the month. "...If approved, Senate Bill 1369 would end a legal battle over bingo machines, a dispute that threatens hundreds of millions of dollars the tribes pay the state every year for the exclusive right to offer slots and other electronic gaming devices. "Most of the state's charities and nonprofits support the bill, but a smaller group that has become dependent on bingo machines for a large share of their income remains strongly opposed. "...The combined clout of the church and the tribes should make the legislation difficult to stop. But backers still must sell it to the Senate's incoming leader, Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat who earlier sought to legalize nontribal bingo machines at the behest of a homeless children's charity in his district..." |