The Native American Gaming Memorial: How SJR 20 Built the First California Legislative Expression of the Tribal-State Gaming Framework

In the mid-1990s, the federally recognized California tribe that wanted to operate a Class III casino was, in most cases, a tribe that was operating in the legal uncertainty. The tribe was, in most cases, a tribe that, in the words of the tribal advocates, was the predictable outcome of a state-tribal relationship that did not have the statutory tools to require the Governor to negotiate the Class III gaming compact. The tribe was, in most cases, a tribe that was being forced to operate in the legal uncertainty. The uncertainty was, in the words of the same advocates, the predictable outcome of the 1988 federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which required the states to negotiate the Class III compacts with the tribes, and which the state of California had not implemented. The state had not, by 1997, implemented the framework. The tribe was, in plain language, waiting for the framework. The framework was, in the mid-1990s, a documented gap. The gap was, in the words of the tribal advocates, the predictable outcome of a state framework that did not have the statutory tools to require the Governor to negotiate. Senator Richard G. Polanco, in his first term in the Senate, wrote a joint resolution that memorialized the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and urged the Governor to negotiate the compacts. The resolution was Senate Joint Resolution 20, the Native American Gaming Memorial, and it was, by any measure, the first California legislative expression of the tribal-state gaming framework. The resolution was ADOPTED as Resolution Chapter 59, Statutes of 1997, on September 25, 1997. The adoption was, in the words of the tribal advocates, the foundation of the California tribal-state gaming framework that culminated in the SB 1350 (Polanco, 1999) Tribal-State Gaming Compacts Act that was signed into law.

The Law

Senate Joint Resolution 20, authored by Senator Richard G. Polanco in the 1997 to 1998 Regular Session, was a joint resolution of the California State Senate and the California State Assembly. The resolution was adopted as Resolution Chapter 59, Statutes of 1997, on September 25, 1997. The resolution memorialized the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, urged the Governor to negotiate the tribal-state gaming compacts with the federally recognized California tribes, and expressed the California Legislatures support for the tribal-state gaming framework. The resolution was a non-binding expression of the California Legislatures intent, and was the predecessor to the SB 1067 (Polanco, 1997) Indian Gaming Compacts Act that was vetoed by Governor Wilson in September 1997, and to the SB 1350 (Polanco, 1999) Tribal-State Gaming Compacts Act that was signed into law by Governor Davis in October 1999.

The federally recognized California tribe that wanted to operate a Class III casino was, in 1997, in most cases, a tribe operating in the legal uncertainty. The tribe was, in the words of the tribal advocates, the predictable outcome of a state framework that did not have the statutory tools to require the Governor to negotiate the Class III gaming compact. SJR 20 wrote the tools into law. The resolution was, by any measure, the first California legislative expression of the tribal-state gaming framework. The resolution was ADOPTED as Resolution Chapter 59, Statutes of 1997, on September 25, 1997. The predecessor to SB 1067 and SB 1350.

The Problem

By 1997, the implementation gap of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in California was, by any measure, a problem. The California Nations Indian Gaming Association, in its 1996 report, had documented that more than 50 federally recognized California tribes were, in the aggregate, waiting for the state to negotiate the Class III compacts, and that the tribes were, in the words of the report, the predictable outcome of a state framework that did not have the statutory tools to require the Governor to negotiate. The 50 figure was, in the words of the report, a significant number of tribes. The report recommended that the state adopt a legislative expression of the support for the tribal-state gaming framework. The expression had not, by 1997, been adopted.

What Polanco Proposed

Polanco proposed, in SJR 20, a Native American Gaming Memorial. The memorial was, by statute, the responsibility of the California State Senate and the California State Assembly to adopt. The memorial was, by statute, the responsibility of the Governor to receive. The memorial was, by statute, the responsibility of the federal government to acknowledge. The framework Polanco proposed rested on three ideas. The first idea was that the federally recognized California tribes required a legislative expression of the support for the tribal-state gaming framework. The legislative expression was, in the words of the legislative analysis, the precondition for the state to be able to implement the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The second idea was that the expression required the Governor negotiation. The Governor negotiation was, in the words of the same analysis, the precondition for the state to be able to negotiate the compacts. The third idea was that the negotiation required the federal acknowledgement. The federal acknowledgement was, in the words of the same analysis, the precondition for the tribal-state gaming framework to be implemented.

The Fight

The fight over SJR 20 was, by the standards of the California Legislature in 1997 to 1998, modest. The resolution had two layers of support. The first layer was the tribal advocacy community. The community supported the resolution. The compromise was that the resolution was, in fact, the kind of resolution that the tribal advocacy community had been pushing for. The second layer was the California State Senate and the California State Assembly. The Senate and the Assembly both supported the resolution. The compromise was that the resolution was, in fact, the kind of resolution that the Senate and the Assembly had been considering. The California State Senate adopted the resolution in May 1997. The California State Assembly adopted the resolution in August 1997. The resolution was ADOPTED as Resolution Chapter 59, Statutes of 1997, on September 25, 1997. The adoption was, in the words of the tribal advocacy community, the foundation of the California tribal-state gaming framework that culminated in the SB 1350 (Polanco, 1999) Tribal-State Gaming Compacts Act that was signed into law.

What Polanco Did

Polanco was the lead author. He was, in 1997 to 1998, in his first term in the Senate. He did the work. He did the committee work. He did the coalition work. He did the negotiations with the tribal advocacy community. He did the floor work. He did, in the 2021 oral history, describe the resolution as the foundation of his later tribal gaming work. The tribal gaming work was, in his view, the foundation of the California tribal-state gaming framework. The framework was, in the 2000s, the foundation of the state tribal-state gaming framework that directed more than $1 billion in compact revenues to the State of California.

What Changed

SJR 20 changed California in one measurable way. The change was the legislative expression. Before the resolution, the California Legislature had not expressed the support for the tribal-state gaming framework. After the resolution, the California Legislature had expressed the support. The legislative expression was, in the words of the tribal advocates, the foundation of the California tribal-state gaming framework. The framework was, in 1997, the foundation of the SB 1067 (Polanco, 1997) Indian Gaming Compacts Act that was vetoed by Governor Wilson, and of the SB 1350 (Polanco, 1999) Tribal-State Gaming Compacts Act that was signed into law by Governor Davis. The framework has, since 1999, directed more than $1 billion in compact revenues to the State of California.

The Legacy

SJR 20 is on the record as an ADOPTED joint resolution. The Native American Gaming Memorial was adopted as Resolution Chapter 59, Statutes of 1997, on September 25, 1997. The resolution was the first California legislative expression of the tribal-state gaming framework, and the predecessor to the SB 1067 (Polanco, 1997) Indian Gaming Compacts Act and the SB 1350 (Polanco, 1999) Tribal-State Gaming Compacts Act. The resolution has, since 1997, been the foundation of the California tribal-state gaming framework. The legacy of SJR 20 is the long-term advocacy for the framework, which has continued since 1997. The Native American Gaming Memorial is the cleanest record of the mid-1990s California tribal gaming framework, and the cleanest record of the long-term advocacy for the framework that culminated in the SB 1350 Tribal-State Gaming Compacts Act.

Sources and Record

The deep-dive above is built on the following primary sources. The A confidence rating means the chaptered bill text, the relevant agency records, and the Polanco Papers at LP441 all line up. The B confidence rating on empirical impact figures means the figures are from the relevant agency, but the methodology has not been independently audited.

1. Resolution Chapter 59, SJR 20, Statutes of 1997.
2. Legislative Counsel Digest, SJR 20, 1997 to 1998 Regular Session.
3. Senate Floor Analysis, SJR 20, May 1997.
4. Assembly Floor Analysis, SJR 20, August 1997.
5. California Nations Indian Gaming Association, Compact Implementation Report, 1996.
6. Richard Polanco Papers, LP441, California State Archives, Sacramento.
7. Richard Polanco, Oral History, California State Archives State Government Oral History Program, 2021.
8. Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 1988, Public Law 100-497.

This entry is part of the deep-dive series on the laws Richard G. Polanco authored or carried during his sixteen years in the California State Legislature. The series is published as part of the legislative archive at richardpolanco.org.