Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee

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Background Information

Senate Bill (SB) 621, which became law on January 1, 2004, established Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committees (IGLCBC); made grant funding available to counties, cities and special districts impacted by tribal gaming from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund (SDF); and set the rules for eligibility and purposes of the grants.  Those gaming tribes who operated 200 or more gaming devices on or before September 1, 1999 contribute a variable portion of their net winnings into the Fund.  In San Diego County , these tribes were the Barona Band of Mission Indians (Barona); Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation (Sycuan); and the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians (Viejas).  The latest compacts with Governor Schwarzenegger have eliminated contributions to the Special Distribution Fund.  The Viejas Band has signed an Amended Compact with the Governor and no longer contributes to the SDF.

Assembly Bill (AB) 675, which became law on September 29, 2004, amended SB 621’s provision regarding the composition of the IGLCBC for San Diego County, only. AB 675 provides that in San Diego County, the IGLCBC is to be composed of the following members:

• Two representatives from the county, selected by the County Board of Supervisors;
• One elected representative from the city located within four miles of a tribal casino in the county, selected by the County Board of Supervisors;
• Three representatives selected upon the recommendation of a majority of the tribes paying into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund in the County; and
• The Sheriff of San Diego County

Assembly Bill (AB) 158, which became law on September 30, 2008, amended Sections 12712, 12715, 12716 and 12718 of the Government Code. It requires an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee to select only grant applications that mitigate impacts from casinos on local jurisdictions. The bill provides that, if a local jurisdiction uses a grant for any unrelated purpose, the grant shall terminate immediately and any moneys not yet spent shall revert to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. It would requires a local jurisdiction that receives a grant from an Individual Tribal Casino Account to deposit all funds received in an interest-bearing account and use the interest from those funds only to mitigate an impact from a casino. The bill requires that, as a condition of receiving further funds, a local jurisdiction, upon request, demonstrate to the county that all expenditures made from the account have been in compliance with these provisions.
AB 158 also provides that a county that does not provide an annual report pursuant to these provisions shall not be eligible for funding from the Indian Gaming Special

Distribution Fund for the following year. It extends the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2010; appropriates $30,000,000 from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund to the California Gambling Control Commission to provide grants to local government agencies under the provisions described above; authorizes counties to utilize the appropriated moneys for expenditures made in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 fiscal years; and declares that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

On January 12, 2005, the County Board of Supervisors appointed Supervisor Dianne Jacob and Greg Smith, Assessor, Recorder and County Clerk, as the two representatives from the County, and Mayor Mark Lewis of the City of El Cajon, to the IGLCBC, and Sheriff Bill Kolender as representative for the Sheriff’s Department. Barona Band of Mission Indians appointed Council Member Edwin “Thorpe” Romero, Barona Chairwoman Rhonda “Lisa” Welch-Scalco, and Alternate Sheilla Alvarez; and Sycuan Band of The Kumeyaay Nation appointed Adam Day. Sheriff Bill Kolender appointed Undersheriff Bill Gore as his Alternate. The Bylaws of the San Diego IGLCBC state that the term of office for the members is four (4) years.

The first meeting of the San Diego County IGLCBC for FY 2008-2009 will be held on October 23, 2008, at Supervisor Dianne Jacob’s El Cajon office, from 10:00am – 12:00pm. At that meeting, a Chair and Vice-Chair will be elected; Alternates for the members will be announced, if any; a Subcommittee will be appointed to review the grant applications that tribes propose for sponsorship and make recommendations to the IGLCBC; a schedule of tasks and meetings will be approved; and Committee will consider revisions to the Bylaws and to the policies and procedures of the Grant Program as a result of the July 2007 State Audit (Report 2006-036), AB 158 and Annual Report (October 1, 2008 Report).

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