A Schwarzenegger-era casino deal will cost state $36.3 million
California will pay $36.3 million after losing a years-long legal fight with a Southern California tribe over a casino deal negotiated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that traded permission to add slot machines in return for millions of dollars in payments to the General Fund .
Legislation to appropriate the money emerged earlier this month, and lawmakers are expected to act on Senate Bill 1187 before the Aug. 31 deadline to pass bills. The claim is the costliest for the state since at least 2010, surpassing the $24.1 million the state paid last year after a lawsuit stemming from the states aborted sale of state office buildings.
The payment follows a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case between the state and the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, which operates a casino southeast of Temecula in northern San Diego County. The state in June lost its attempt to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Pauma band was among more than 60 California tribes that signed tribal casino compacts in 1999 that for the first time brought Vegas-style gambling to tribal land.
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