How is the public responding to the campaign for Proposition 26? A “no” vote leaves things exactly the way they are. A “yes” vote means anyone, including tribes, can sue cardrooms, and tribes can have betting on sports at their casinos. Card rooms say this will be abused and put them, tribal casino’s biggest competitors, out of business. Tribes say their goal with any lawsuit against a card room is to ensure the law is being followed, and to settle the contentious debate over how card rooms operate. Card rooms say they will face frivolous civil lawsuits if the proposition passes. These small cities have joined card rooms in opposition to Proposition 26. “That card room is the economic engine that makes our city run,” says Shavon Moore Cage, assistant to the mayor of Hawaiian Gardens. The smallest city in the county, Hawaiian Gardens, gets over 70% of its revenue from the local card room.
There are 78 cities in the state that rely heavily on this revenue to sustain their budgets, including five in Los Angeles County: Bell Gardens, Commerce, Compton, Cudahy and Hawaiian Gardens. The cities where card rooms are located collect a lot of taxes and fees from these establishments. Why are some cities in California concerned about Proposition 26?
KCRW An undated photo of the Gardens Casino, the second largest card room in the state and is the economic engine of the city of Hawaiian Gardens.
