Post by Okwes on Mar 18, 2008 20:04:39 GMT -5
Dan Walters: Tribes rise as guard union fades
By Dan Walters - dwalters@sacbee.com
Last Updated 12:24 am PDT Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
One of the most interesting – and perhaps significant – twists of Capitol politics has been the rise of the prison guards' union and the casino-owning Indian tribes from utter obscurity to vast political power.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association and the casino tribes spent tens of millions – perhaps hundreds of millions – on campaign contributions, lobbying and advertising campaigns, especially in the 1990s, to establish themselves as political powerhouses.
They assiduously played both sides of the partisan aisle, used ballot measures to enhance their economic and political positions, and even merged forces on occasion. But whether together or singly, the CCPOA and the tribes joined the very select circle of political interest groups that were virtually unbeatable on issues they considered vital.
The CCPOA's hegemony has faded markedly in the past couple of years, especially since its longtime leader and resident political genius, Don Novey, retired from active involvement. Rapidly growing prison spending chafed on others wanting pieces of the fixed state budget pie. Liberal lawmakers began questioning the lock-'em-up philosophy that sent the prisons soaring past 170,000 inmates and drew federal court intervention.
The union also lost its very profitable pipeline to the governor's office after playing major roles in the election of Republican Pete Wilson and Democrat Gray Davis. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't need or get the CCPOA's help, and he's been an advocate – some of the time, anyway – of prison reform. Last year, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature enacted a reform and construction bill over CCPOA's bitter objections. This year, the governor wants to reduce prison pressure through parole reforms.
CCPOA retaliated, perhaps foolishly, by bankrolling the campaign against Proposition 93, which would have modified legislative term limits and allowed the Legislature's leaders to extend their careers. While voters rejected the measure, the union's relations with those leaders dropped to rock-bottom.
As CCPOA's clout in the Capitol was plummeting last year, the casino tribes' almost total power was underscored when Democratic leaders brushed aside objections from their longtime allies in labor and ratified new compacts with four Southern California tribes that sharply expanded their gambling operations. One factor in the Assembly's abrupt reversal on the compacts was a fear that the tribes would spend millions to oppose Proposition 93.
Tribal clout was demonstrated anew on Tuesday when the Assembly Public Safety Committee, after a hearing that lasted but a few minutes, unanimously approved a bill that would empower tribes to banish individuals from their reservations and have local law enforcement officials enforce the ban.
Ostensibly, the legislation, Senate Bill 331 by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, has to do with trespassing, but trespassing on posted land is already against the law. SB 331, as a committee staff analysis implies, is really aimed at one of the darker aspects of tribal casino operations – the tendency of dominant tribal political factions to "disenroll" members who fall out of favor and thus make them ineligible for shares of multibillion-dollar casino revenues.
The state has no power to enforce democracy and non-discrimination in tribes since they claim the status of "sovereign nations." But with SB 331, local police would be used to enforce banishment by creating a new infraction, punishable by a fine, that could be applied to any individual specifically named by a tribe.
It's bad policy. The bill sailed through the Senate as a "consent" item, and the Legislature's eagerness to make it law is shameful, even as it testifies to the casino tribes' clout.
By Dan Walters - dwalters@sacbee.com
Last Updated 12:24 am PDT Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
One of the most interesting – and perhaps significant – twists of Capitol politics has been the rise of the prison guards' union and the casino-owning Indian tribes from utter obscurity to vast political power.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association and the casino tribes spent tens of millions – perhaps hundreds of millions – on campaign contributions, lobbying and advertising campaigns, especially in the 1990s, to establish themselves as political powerhouses.
They assiduously played both sides of the partisan aisle, used ballot measures to enhance their economic and political positions, and even merged forces on occasion. But whether together or singly, the CCPOA and the tribes joined the very select circle of political interest groups that were virtually unbeatable on issues they considered vital.
The CCPOA's hegemony has faded markedly in the past couple of years, especially since its longtime leader and resident political genius, Don Novey, retired from active involvement. Rapidly growing prison spending chafed on others wanting pieces of the fixed state budget pie. Liberal lawmakers began questioning the lock-'em-up philosophy that sent the prisons soaring past 170,000 inmates and drew federal court intervention.
The union also lost its very profitable pipeline to the governor's office after playing major roles in the election of Republican Pete Wilson and Democrat Gray Davis. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't need or get the CCPOA's help, and he's been an advocate – some of the time, anyway – of prison reform. Last year, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature enacted a reform and construction bill over CCPOA's bitter objections. This year, the governor wants to reduce prison pressure through parole reforms.
CCPOA retaliated, perhaps foolishly, by bankrolling the campaign against Proposition 93, which would have modified legislative term limits and allowed the Legislature's leaders to extend their careers. While voters rejected the measure, the union's relations with those leaders dropped to rock-bottom.
As CCPOA's clout in the Capitol was plummeting last year, the casino tribes' almost total power was underscored when Democratic leaders brushed aside objections from their longtime allies in labor and ratified new compacts with four Southern California tribes that sharply expanded their gambling operations. One factor in the Assembly's abrupt reversal on the compacts was a fear that the tribes would spend millions to oppose Proposition 93.
Tribal clout was demonstrated anew on Tuesday when the Assembly Public Safety Committee, after a hearing that lasted but a few minutes, unanimously approved a bill that would empower tribes to banish individuals from their reservations and have local law enforcement officials enforce the ban.
Ostensibly, the legislation, Senate Bill 331 by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, has to do with trespassing, but trespassing on posted land is already against the law. SB 331, as a committee staff analysis implies, is really aimed at one of the darker aspects of tribal casino operations – the tendency of dominant tribal political factions to "disenroll" members who fall out of favor and thus make them ineligible for shares of multibillion-dollar casino revenues.
The state has no power to enforce democracy and non-discrimination in tribes since they claim the status of "sovereign nations." But with SB 331, local police would be used to enforce banishment by creating a new infraction, punishable by a fine, that could be applied to any individual specifically named by a tribe.
It's bad policy. The bill sailed through the Senate as a "consent" item, and the Legislature's eagerness to make it law is shameful, even as it testifies to the casino tribes' clout.