Senate Says Yes to CA Slot Machine Expansion

The California State Senate has approved the largest expansion of slot machines in the state since they were initially brought in. They have voted to give the tribes in the state the 22,500 slot machines that they had requested, and agreed upon with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, they are not quite ready to be installed yet.

The Assembly must approve the slot machine compacts as well, and since it is controlled by the Democrats, they may have a hard fight ahead of them. The Democrats support the labor unions, and the labor unions are fighting the tribe’s rights to bring in more slot machines and casinos without proper labor procedures.

The governor wants the slot machine compacts approved so that he can start counting on the revenue that they will bring in since they are supposed to be balancing out their budget for the year beginning in July. If they can get thousands of slot machines installed before July, he says there will be an additional $500 million in the state’s coffers for the year.

The labor unions say that if they don’t stand up to the tribes now, they will run rampant over the state and take whatever they want. They say that there are more than 50,000 workers who need and deserve their rights as well. They are confident that the Democrats will not allow the tribes to have their slot machines until they make it fair for their workers.



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