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TV Ad Blitz Launched for Calif. Gambling Measure
California racetracks and card rooms launched an ambitious statewide television advertising campaign on Friday urging voters to back a November ballot measure that could end Indian tribes' lucrative monopoly on slot machines in the state. The campaign representing racetracks and card rooms plans to spend $3 million a week to convince Californians to back a law requiring the state's Indian casinos to forward 25 percent of profits from slots to a special state fund. If a single tribe refuses to comply, racetracks and card rooms would be able to install up to 30,000 Las Vegas-style slots at 16 locations. "The general idea of the ads we will be running is that Indian casinos are making up to $8 billion a year or more and are not contributing a fair share to California to allow them to maintain a monopoly on slot machines," said Shelly Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the Yes on Proposition 68 campaign. Most estimates of California Indian casinos put annual revenue between $4 billion and $6 billion. The TV ad blitz backed by five racetracks and 11 card rooms follows a lawsuit filed on Thursday by supporters of the measure, which include the racetracks, to overturn gambling agreements signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and five tribes in June. The deals lifted a ceiling of 2,000 slots for each tribe and provided Indians with exclusive rights to operate slots in the state in exchange for sharing revenue. Schwarzenegger wants to tap the Indian casino industry for cash to help balance California's budget. He recently supported one tribe's goal of a casino a short drive from San Francisco that would rival the biggest gambling halls in Las Vegas. In Thursday's lawsuit, Proposition 68 supporters claimed Schwarzenegger violated the state constitution by passing a state law approving the tribal compacts in June. The suit seeks to invalidate the law that approved the deals, which included an agreement to use casino revenue to back a $1 billion bond for state transportation projects.
SOURCE: Reuters.
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