State Will Earn Billions if Compact Ratified

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has something to celebrate; they have reached an agreement with Governor Schwarzenegger to add more slot machines to their existing total. The deal made the tribe happy, and if ratified will also make the state happy. The tribe currently operates the Morongo Casino Resort in Cabazon, and is looking to expand.  

The area that it currently sits in is licensed for 13,000 slot machines. There are 2,000 each at Fantasy Springs, Spotlight29, Aqua Caliente (in Rancho Mirage and in Palm Springs), Morongo, San Manuel, Pechanga; plus almost 800 at Augustine, and 350 that have been approved for the Torrez Martinez. With the tribes pushing for more slot machines, that area is about to get a whole lot busier. If the compacts are all approved, 21,325 new slot machines could be headed toward the area. This also means a large increase in slot machine revenue for the state, $21.8 billion is estimated to be the lucky number – with that being the amount they would earn through 2030. 

The agreement took a long time to come to as the tribe wanted to make sure that not only did they get their slot machines, but they wanted to be fair to all of the tribal governments, they wanted to bring in many more jobs (it will bring in an estimated 4,000 jobs), and it needed to bring in significant revenue for the state. It ended up being a win-win deal for everyone. Now they just have to wait to see if it makes it through the legislative process.

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