Bill Text: CA AB2066 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Tribal gaming: local agencies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-06-26 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Hill. [AB2066 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2066-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2066 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hall
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Section 12715 of the Government Code, relating to
tribal gaming.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2066, as introduced, Hall. Tribal gaming: local agencies.
Existing law creates in the State Treasury the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund for the receipt and deposit of moneys
received by the state from certain Indian tribes pursuant to the
terms of gaming compacts entered into with the state. Existing law
authorizes moneys in that fund to be used for specified purposes,
including for grants for the support of state and local government
agencies impacted by tribal government gaming. Existing law, until
January 1, 2021, creates a County Tribal Casino Account in the
treasury of each county that contains a tribal casino, which is
funded according to specified formulas. Existing law requires the
Controller to divide the County Tribal Casino Account for each county
that has gaming devices that are subject to an obligation to make
contributions to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund into a
separate account, known as an Individual Tribal Casino Account, for
each tribe that operates a casino within the county. Each Individual
Tribal Casino Account is required to be funded in proportion to the
amount that each individual tribe paid in the prior fiscal year to
the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, and used for grants to
local agencies impacted by tribal casinos, as specified. Existing law
establishes an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee in
each county in which gaming is conducted, specifies the composition
and responsibilities of that committee, and requires that committee
to make the selection of grants from the casino accounts. Among other
things, the committee is responsible for establishing all
application policies and procedures for grants from the casino
accounts.
Existing law requires funds not allocated from a County Tribal
Casino Account or an Individual Tribal Casino Account for the grants
by the end of each fiscal year to revert back to the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund, except for moneys allocated for specified
fiscal years, which are required to be eligible for expenditure
through the calendar year.
This bill would delete the obsolete provisions relating to
allocations made in those specified fiscal years.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12715 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
12715. (a) The Controller, acting in consultation with the
California Gambling Control Commission, shall divide the County
Tribal Casino Account for each county that has gaming devices that
are subject to an obligation to make contributions to the Indian
Gaming Special Distribution Fund into a separate account for each
tribe that operates a casino within the county. These accounts shall
be known as Individual Tribal Casino Accounts, and funds may be
released from these accounts to make grants selected by an Indian
Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee pursuant to the method
established by this section to local jurisdictions impacted by tribal
casinos. Each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall be funded in
proportion to the amount that each individual tribe paid in the prior
fiscal year to the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund.
(b) (1) There is hereby created in each county in which Indian
gaming is conducted an Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit
Committee. The selection of all grants from each Individual Tribal
Casino Account or County Tribal Casino Account shall be made by each
county's Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee. In
selecting grants, the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee
shall follow the priorities established in subdivision (g) and the
requirements specified in subdivision (h). This committee has the
following additional responsibilities:
(A) Establishing all application policies and procedures for
grants from the Individual Tribal Casino Account or County Tribal
Casino Account. Each grant application shall clearly show how the
grant will mitigate the impact of the casino on the grant applicant.
(B) Assessing the eligibility of applications for grants from
local jurisdictions impacted by tribal gaming operations.
(C) Determining the appropriate amount for reimbursement from the
aggregate county tribal account of the demonstrated costs incurred by
the county for administering the grant programs. The reimbursement
for county administrative costs may not exceed 2 percent of the
aggregate county tribal account in any given fiscal year.
(2) Except as provided in Section 12715.5, the Indian Gaming Local
Community Benefit Committee shall be composed of seven
representatives, consisting of the following:
(A) Two representatives from the county, selected by the county
board of supervisors.
(B) Three elected representatives from cities located within four
miles of a tribal casino in the county, selected by the county board
of supervisors. In the event that there are no cities located within
four miles of a tribal casino in the county, other local
representatives may be selected upon mutual agreement by the county
board of supervisors and a majority of the tribes paying into the
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund in the county. When there are
no cities within four miles of a tribal casino in the county, and
when the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee acts on
behalf of a county where no tribes pay into the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund, other local representatives may be selected upon
mutual agreement by the county board of supervisors and a majority of
the tribes operating casinos in the county. However, if only one
city is within four miles of a tribal casino and that same casino is
located entirely within the unincorporated area of that particular
county, only one elected representative from that city shall be
included on the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee.
(C) Two representatives selected upon the recommendation of a
majority of the tribes paying into the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund in each county. When an Indian Gaming Local
Community Benefit Committee acts on behalf of a county where
in which no tribes pay into the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund, the two representatives may be selected
upon the recommendation of the tribes operating casinos in the
county.
(c) Sixty percent of each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall
be available for nexus grants on a yearly basis to cities and
counties impacted by tribes that are paying into the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund, according to the four-part nexus test
described in paragraph (1). Grant awards shall be selected by each
county's Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and shall be
administered by the county. Grants may be awarded on a multiyear
basis, and these multiyear grants shall be accounted for in the grant
process for each year.
(1) A nexus test based on the geographical proximity of a local
government jurisdiction to an individual Indian land upon which a
tribal casino is located shall be used by each county's Indian Gaming
Local Community Benefit Committee to determine the relative priority
for grants, using the following criteria:
(A) Whether the local government jurisdiction borders the Indian
lands on all sides.
(B) Whether the local government jurisdiction partially borders
Indian lands.
(C) Whether the local government jurisdiction maintains a highway,
road, or other thoroughfare that is the predominant access route to
a casino that is located within four miles.
(D) Whether all or a portion of the local government jurisdiction
is located within four miles of a casino.
(2) Fifty percent of the amount specified in this
subdivision (c) shall be awarded in equal
proportions to local government jurisdictions that meet all four of
the nexus test criteria in paragraph (1). If no eligible local
government jurisdiction satisfies this requirement, the amount
specified in this paragraph shall be made available for nexus grants
in equal proportions to local government jurisdictions meeting the
requirements of paragraph (3) or (4).
(3) Thirty percent of the amount specified in this
subdivision (c) shall be awarded in equal
proportions to local government jurisdictions that meet three of the
nexus test criteria in paragraph (1). If no eligible local government
jurisdiction satisfies this requirement, the amount specified in
this paragraph shall be made available for nexus grants in equal
proportions to local government jurisdictions meeting the
requirements of paragraph (2) or (4).
(4) Twenty percent of the amount specified in this
subdivision (c) shall be awarded in equal
proportions to local government jurisdictions that meet two of the
nexus test criteria in paragraph (1). If no eligible local government
jurisdiction satisfies this requirement, the amount specified in
this paragraph shall be made available for nexus grants in equal
proportions to local government jurisdictions meeting the
requirements of paragraph (2) or (3).
(d) Twenty percent of each Individual Tribal Casino Account shall
be available for discretionary grants to local jurisdictions impacted
by tribes that are paying into the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund. These discretionary grants shall be made available
to all local jurisdictions in the county irrespective of any nexus
to impacts from any particular tribal casino, as described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c). Grant awards shall be selected by
each county's Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and
shall be administered by the county. Grants may be awarded on a
multiyear basis, and these multiyear grants shall be accounted for in
the grant process for each year.
(e) (1) Twenty percent of each Individual Tribal Casino Account
shall be available for discretionary grants to local jurisdictions
impacted by tribes that are not paying into the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund. These grants shall be made available to local
jurisdictions in the county irrespective of any nexus to impacts from
any particular tribal casino, as described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c), and irrespective of whether the impacts presented
are from a tribal casino that is not paying into the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund. Grant awards shall be selected by each
county's Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee and shall be
administered by the county. Grants may be awarded on a multiyear
basis, and these multiyear grants shall be accounted for in the grant
process for each year.
(A) Grants awarded pursuant to this subdivision are limited to
addressing service-oriented impacts and providing assistance with
one-time large capital projects related to Indian gaming impacts.
(B) Grants shall be subject to the sole sponsorship of the tribe
that pays into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund and the
recommendations of the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit
Committee for that county.
(2) If an eligible county does not have a tribal casino operated
by a tribe that does not pay into the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund, the moneys available for discretionary grants
under this subdivision shall be available for distribution pursuant
to subdivision (d).
(f) (1) For each county that does not have gaming devices subject
to an obligation to make payments to the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund, funds may be released from the county's County
Tribal Casino Account to make grants selected by the county's Indian
Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee pursuant to the method
established by this section to local jurisdictions impacted by tribal
casinos. These grants shall be made available to local jurisdictions
in the county irrespective of any nexus to any particular tribal
casino. These grants shall follow the priorities specified in
subdivision (g) and the requirements specified in subdivision (h).
(2) Funds not allocated from a county tribal casino
account County Tribal Casino Account by the end
of each fiscal year shall revert back to the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund. Moneys allocated for the 2003-04 fiscal
year shall be eligible for expenditure through December 31, 2004.
(g) The following uses shall be the priorities for the receipt of
grant moneys from Individual Tribal Casino Accounts: law enforcement,
fire services, emergency medical services, environmental impacts,
water supplies, waste disposal, behavioral, health, planning and
adjacent land uses, public health, roads, recreation and youth
programs, and child care programs.
(h) In selecting grants pursuant to subdivision (b), an Indian
Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee shall select only grant
applications that mitigate impacts from casinos on local
jurisdictions. If a local jurisdiction uses a grant selected pursuant
to subdivision (b) for any unrelated purpose, the grant shall
terminate immediately and any moneys not yet spent shall revert to
the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. If a local jurisdiction
approves an expenditure that mitigates an impact from a casino on a
local jurisdiction and that also provides other benefits to the local
jurisdiction, the grant selected pursuant to subdivision (b) shall
be used to finance only the proportionate share of the expenditure
that mitigates the impact from the casino.
(i) All grants from Individual Tribal Casino Accounts shall be
made only upon the affirmative sponsorship of the tribe paying into
the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund from whose Individual
Tribal Casino Account the grant moneys are available for
distribution. Tribal sponsorship shall confirm that the grant
application has a reasonable relationship to a casino impact and
satisfies at least one of the priorities listed in subdivision (g). A
grant may not be made for any purpose that would support or fund,
directly or indirectly, any effort related to the opposition or
challenge to Indian gaming in the state, and, to the extent any
awarded grant is utilized for any prohibited purpose by any local
government, upon notice given to the county by any tribe from whose
Individual Tribal Casino Account the awarded grant went toward that
prohibited use, the grant shall terminate immediately and any moneys
not yet used shall again be made available for qualified nexus
grants.
(j) A local government jurisdiction that is a recipient of a grant
from an Individual Tribal Casino Account or a County Tribal Casino
Account shall provide notice to the public, either through a slogan,
signage, or other mechanism, stating that the local government
project has received funding from the Indian Gaming Special
Distribution Fund and further identifying the particular Individual
Tribal Casino Account from which the grant derives.
(k) (1) Each county's Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit
Committee shall submit to the Controller a list of approved projects
for funding from Individual Tribal Casino Accounts. Upon receipt of
this list, the Controller shall release the funds directly to the
local government entities for which a grant has been approved by the
committee.
(2) Funds not allocated from an Individual Tribal Casino Account
by the end of each fiscal year shall revert back to the Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund. Moneys allocated for the 2003-04
fiscal year shall be eligible for expenditure through December 31,
2004. Moneys allocated for the 2008-09 fiscal year shall be eligible
for expenditure through December 31, 2009.
(l) Notwithstanding any other law, a local government jurisdiction
that receives a grant from an Individual Tribal Casino Account shall
deposit all funds received in an interest-bearing account and use
the interest from those funds only for the purpose of mitigating an
impact from a casino. If any portion of the funds in the account is
used for any other purpose, the remaining portion shall revert to the
Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. As a condition of receiving
further funds under this section, a local government jurisdiction,
upon request of the county, shall demonstrate to the county that all
expenditures made from the account have been in compliance with the
requirements of this section.
