Indian Gaming Measures Fail in the Legislature

Half a dozen new and renegotiated agreements that together would have dramatically expanded gambling on California's Indian reservations were defeated or stalled on Thursday. Legislative leaders and negotiators said pressure from labor groups that wanted casino workers to have more power to unionize doomed the tribal compacts. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said he would attempt to work with the tribes to broker a deal that lawmakers and union interests could support before the Legislature reconvenes in December. The defeated pact would have allowed the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs to add 3,000 slot machines and open a third casino. It would have paid the state up to $1.8 billion during the life of the deal but was opposed by labor groups opposed because it removed a method to recognize when workers want to start a union. (AP) Guest host Ted Chen talks with Nancy Conrad of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of Palm Springs, State Assemblyman Russ Bogh and Rod Wilson, a public relations consultant for a number of Indian tribes.