In spite of concerns about how the money is being used, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed a bill intended to send millions of dollars to about two dozen California counties that are home to Indian casinos. The measure by state Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, restores $20 million to the Special Distribution Fund, which helps non gambling tribes and repays counties with casinos for additional police and fire services and road improvements.
About 40% of the cash would go to Riverside County, home to several of the state's most lucrative tribal casinos. The Legislature previous year accepted a $50 million portion to those counties for the fiscal year that began July 1, but the governor cut the quantity to $30 million.
The governor's staff required tougher tongue requiring reports on how counties were spending the money, which is contributed by casino-operating tribes under compacts they signed with then-Gov. Gray Davis. That tongue was incorporated in the bill Schwarzenegger signed.