$$ to fight sports betting initiative + End offshore drilling? + GOP wants the emergency over
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TRIBES PUT UP $100M TO FIGHT OUT-OF-STATE SPORTS BOOKS
Via Lara Korte...
Three California tribes are banding together to fight a ballot measure backed by DraftKings and FanDuel that would legalize online and mobile sports betting in the Golden State.
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Rincon Band of Luisueño Indians, and Wilton Rancheria established Californians for Tribal Sovereignty and Safe Gaming on Tuesday, with an initial campaign budget of $100 million.
Strategists Roger Salazar and Rob Stutzman are spokesmen for the coalition.
“In 2000, Californians voted to give sovereign Indian nations the exclusive right to operate gaming in California. The online sports betting measure sponsored by out-of-state corporations violates that promise of sovereignty, which has worked exceptionally well now for over two decades to the benefit of the tribes and California,” Salazar said in a statement.
The same tribes fighting the DraftKings measure backed a separate ballot initiative last fall that would legalize in-person sports wagering, roulette, and dice games on tribal lands, and online sports wagering statewide, if operated by federally recognized Indian tribes.
You’d be forgiven for confusing who is backing which sports betting ballot measure. Lucky for you, The Sacramento Bee has a guide to all four measures.
LAWMAKER INTRODUCES OFFSHORE DRILLING BAN
State Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, followed through this week on his promise to introduce legislation to ban offshore oil drilling in California.
SB 953 would end all offshore drilling by the end of 2023. Min’s office says there are 11 leases and three active oil rigs in California state waters.
Min cited the 2021 Orange County oil spill as motivation for his introduction of SB 953; that spill leaked nearly 25,000 gallons of crude oil off the coast of Huntington Beach, the largest oil spill in California since the 2015 spill at Refugio Beach near Santa Barbara.
“Where there is drilling, there is going to be spilling,” Min said in a statement. “We know that the aging infrastructure of these offshore rigs means that we will see more and more of these disastrous oil spills, unless we take action now. Our coastal economies, our precious marine ecosystems, and our right as Californians to access clean and unspoiled beaches are all at risk. We must end offshore drilling off the coast of California now. Not in 5 years, or 10 years or after the next major oil spill. Now. SB 953 would do just that for all offshore drilling in California state waters.”
According to Min’s office, California’s coastal economy produces $44 billion every year, and employs more than 500,000 Californians.
SB 953 has the support of groups like Social Compassion in Legislation, whose founder and president, Judie Mancuso, said in a statement, “These oil drilling platforms and pipes were called ‘an unacceptable hazard to navigation’ and a ‘veritable minefield inviting catastrophe’ in the 1970’s when Orange County led a lawsuit, along with Huntington, Newport, and Laguna Beaches to stop the leases.
“It is time we continue the fight which our county and coastal cities started over four decades ago, and again stand up against the oil industry to save our pristine coastline, protect our marine and wildlife, while ensuring our local economies can thrive.”
REPUBLICANS CALL FOR END TO STATE OF EMERGENCY
California’s statewide mask mandate is set to end soon, but a number of Republican lawmakers say that Gov. Gavin Newsom hasn’t gone far enough: They want to see an end to Newsom’s state of emergency order for COVID-19.
You may recall that Gov. Newsom extended the COVID-19 state of emergency last fall — it is currently set to expire March 31 of this year. California has been under a state of emergency since March 4, 2020.
On Thursday, Republican lawmakers Assemblymembers Kevin Kiley, James Gallagher, Tom Lackey, Kelly Seyarto and Randy Voepel and Sens. Melissa Melendez and Jim Nielsen are set to gather on the west steps of the Capitol for an 8 a.m. press conference to promote Assembly Concurrent Resolution 46 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 to force an end to the state of emergency.
“Many Republican and Democratic governors across the country have rightfully ended their emergency declarations and statewide mandates. It is time for the California Legislature to follow the lead of these states by doing what Governor Newsom has been unwilling to do,” according to a statement from Kiley’s office. “If the Governor himself can attend a football game maskless and Los Angeles can host 70,000 people at the Super Bowl, we are no longer living under an emergency.”
QUOTE(S) OF THE DAY
Assemblyman Alex Lee, himself a former legislative staffer, wrote a lengthy Twitter thread about why staffers aren’t paid enough.
Best of the Bee:
California will give new tax cuts to businesses and new relief to restaurants under a package of bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wednesday, via Sophia Bollag.
When an effort to create government-run universal health care died in California died last week, finger-pointing immediately began. Amid all the drama, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed to escape unscathed, via Sophia Bollag.
Yolo County will join Sacramento County in ending its local mask order next week, as both plan to align with California in dropping mask requirements for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in most public indoor settings, via Michael McGough.
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 4:55 AM.