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California has approved a new tribal gaming compact with the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe that allows up to two casinos in San Bernardino County, but the deal does not include the kind of direct revenue-sharing provisions seen in some older California compacts.
The compact replaces a 2004 agreement that expired last year. According to the source report, the tribe will still make payments into gaming-related funds that help cover regulation costs and gambling addiction programs. The new agreement uses the Tribal Nation Grant Fund rather than the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund used under the prior compact.
For California players, the immediate takeaway is that this is mainly a policy and expansion story, not a change to gambling options that is active today. The report did not give opening dates or exact casino locations.
Why the state is not getting the old-style payments
Experts cited in the report said federal law requires tribal-state compacts for casino-style gaming on tribal land, but states cannot simply tax tribal gaming operations. That has made revenue-sharing terms a recurring issue in California compact negotiations.
The story points to stricter federal scrutiny after 2024 regulatory changes by the Department of the Interior. It also references a 2010 federal court ruling involving the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, where California’s effort to secure General Fund payments was found to be an impermissible tax.
Kathryn Rand told the outlet that the tribe is still contributing through required fund payments, even if the state is not receiving direct revenue sharing in the way it once did. Steve Light said the structure could become a point of interest for other tribes negotiating future compacts.
What to watch next in California
The report says California’s direct tribal revenue-sharing receipts to the General Fund are now minimal compared with the overall state budget, even as the state faces budget pressure. It also notes that tribal gaming policy remains tied to wider gambling debates, including sports wagering and prediction markets.
That does not mean prediction markets are part of this compact. But experts quoted in the story said tribes, commercial gaming interests, and regulators are increasingly aligned in their concerns about that issue. For now, the clearest next question is whether other California tribes pursue similar compact terms without direct state revenue sharing.
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Source: As reported by san.com.
