Capitol Alert

FPPC proposes $2,500 fine related to Chris Kelly's 2010 AG bid

2013-05-07T04:05:47Z

Potential Sacramento Kings partial owner Chris Kelly has agreed to pay California's political ethics watchdog agency a $2,500 in fine to settle bookkeeping issues from his 2010 attorney general run.

An investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission found that Kelly's campaign failed to accurately report more than $7 million in expenditures during his 2010 Democratic primary campaign, which he lost to Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The fine is on the agenda for approval at the commission's May 16 meeting.

A spokesman for Kelly's campaign wrote in an email that the the former Facebook chief privacy officer "cooperated with the investigation and has agreed to pay the minor administrative penalty levied for the one violation."

Kelly, who has remained active in policy issues related to public safety since his attorney general run, is part of a group of investors seeking to purchase the Kings to keep the team in Sacramento.

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Kelly. Sacramento Bee file photo

White House 'deeply concerned' about Boxer's levee bill

2013-05-06T23:54:22Z

It seemed like it could be a slam-dunk in a Congress that can't agree on much of anything.

But California Sen. Barbara Boxer's bipartisan effort to pass legislation to fund flood control, navigation and storm recovery projects hit a snag Monday when the White House issued a statement highly critical of the bill, which Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee approved unanimously in March.

The Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes projects such as the Natomas Levee Improvement Program, was expected to move to the Senate floor for debate Tuesday, but the fate of some of its more controversial provisions wasn't clear. Committee staff said Monday night that amending language would be announced Tuesday to address concerns about the bill, and noted that the White House statement did not actually oppose its broader goals.

The White House said it was "deeply concerned" about language in the bill that would fast-track environmental reviews for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects. Critics, especially Republicans, say that such studies take far too long and burden communities with government bureaucracy. But environmentalists say the process is necessary to protect communities, the environment and taxpayer funds.
]]> The White House said the Senate version of the Water Resources Development Act "would weaken Congressional involvement and transparency in the authorization of Corps studies and construction projects."

"The bill constrains science based decision making, increases litigation risk, and undermines the integrity of several foundational environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act," the White House statement said.

Boxer's language was designed to appeal to Republicans - all of them on Boxer's committee approved the bill, including ranking Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, a conservative who typically agrees with Boxer on little else.

However, it didn't sit well with some Democrats. Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote Boxer last month to ask that the offending language be removed.

Assuming the bill gets through the Democrat-controlled Senate - it needs 60 votes - it will face an even tougher audience in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Rep. Doris Matsui, a Sacramento Democrat who is a leading supporter of the legislation in the House, said in a statement that she was optimistic that the Senate would approve the bill and praised Boxer's effort.

"Senator Boxer has shown outstanding leadership in reaching a bipartisan solution to our nation's pressing infrastructure challenges," Matsui said.

PHOTO CREDIT: U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer meets with the Sacramento Bee's editorial board in 2010. The Sacramento Bee/Jose Luis Villegas

FPPC: Michael Rubio real estate transactions didn't break laws

2013-05-06T23:13:49Z

California's political watchdog agency has determined that a former state senator who engaged in real estate transactions with a friend and campaign donor did not violate the state's political ethics laws.

The Fair Political Practices Commission had been reviewing both a short sale and a loan related to properties owned by former Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio, who resigned in February to take a job directing California governmental affairs for Chevron Corp.

Shortly after Rubio stepped down, it was revealed that a company managed by San Joaquin Refining Co. President Majid Mojibi purchased a Bakersfield home Rubio put up for a short sale after he had to move to remain eligible to represent the Central Valley's 16th Senate District. That company, DCM Asset Management, also provided Rubio with a loan to purchase a $681,000 home in El Dorado Hills last year when he was unable to receive a traditional mortgage. Rubio later sold the five-bedroom house back to Mojibi, whom he describes as a close personal friend, and began renting it.

The El Dorado Hills transactions, first reported by The Bee, was later disclosed in Rubio's annual Statement of Economic Interests form. That form also showed that Rubio was involved in another real estate deal with ties to the Mojibi family.

Those exchanges raised questions about whether the loan and the sale violated the Political Reform Act, which limits elected officials to $440 in gifts from a single source per year. A central issue for the ethics agency officials was whether the terms of the loan Rubio received would have been available to the general public.

]]> A letter from the FPPC, which never formally acknowledged it was investigating Rubio, deemed the loan for his El Dorado Hills home was not a gift under the Political Reform Act.

"Because the transactions between you and DCM were commercial transactions conducted on terms available to the general public without being apparently specifically designed to provide personal benefit to you, neither the gift nor the gift disclosure requirements of the Act will apply," Adrianne Korchmaros, a political reform consultant in the Enforcement Division, wrote in the letter.

The letter also states that Rubio "provided documentation that the (Bakersfield) property was purchased at the fair market value of its price at the time," qualifying the payment as income, not a gift.

The agency's enforcement agency did reach an agreement with Rubio that he would pay a $200 fine for a technical disclosure violation related to how he reported the sale of his Bakersfield home in 2011.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Then-Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Bakersfield, speaks, during a hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Tuesday, April 17, 2012.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Jerry Brown calls climate change reason for budget restraint

2013-05-06T22:50:56Z

Gov. Jerry Brown, who is preparing to submit a revised budget proposal for the coming fiscal year this month, has found a new argument for financial restraint: Climate change.

At a news conference today to kick off Wildfire Awareness Week, the Democratic governor said he will "do everything I can to deal with forest fires," but he said the bigger problem is how people adapt to climate change.

"It doesn't look like the people who are in charge are going to do what it takes to really slow down this climate change, so we're going to have to adapt, and adapting is going to be very, very expensive," Brown said. "That's another reason why we have to maintain some budget discipline."

Brown, who has urged lawmakers of his own party to resist spending despite the state's improving revenue outlook, said weather is "becoming more intense" as a result of climate change and will "cost a lot of money and a lot of lives."

Brown's remarks come amid a fire season that is off to an unusually fast start, with firefighters battling blazes throughout the state.

In that effort, officials said they will spend whatever is necessary.

Natural Resources Secretary John Laird said an emergency firefighting fund is in "reasonable shape," but that, "The message is clear: We will do whatever it takes to fight the fires and worry about that later, because public safety is first."

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown leaves a news conference that was to start Wildfire Awareness Week at a hanger at the CAL Fire Aviation Management Unit at McClellan on Monday, May 6, 2013. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee

Jerry Brown calls prison case 'mystifying,' vows appeal

2013-05-06T21:18:47Z

Gov. Jerry Brown today called "mystifying" the continuing legal pressure on his administration to reduce California's prison population, as he reiterated his pledge to appeal the case as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I find it rather mystifying why we're in this predicament, but I am following the law, and I'm exercising my rights as an American citizen to present the arguments as I see them and to seek final adjudication in our highest courts," Brown told reporters after a memorial ceremony for law enforcement officials in Sacramento.

Brown's remarks follow his administration's submission Thursday of a court-ordered plan to reduce the state's prison population, even as state officials vowed to appeal. The administration claims overcrowding in state prisons has been addressed and that inmate health care is sufficient.

A special, three-judge panel ordered the state in 2009 to reduce its prison population to improve health care conditions in the prison system, and a federal judge in April denied Brown's bid to remove prison health care from federal control. The three-judge panel is insisting that the state reduce its prison population by about 9,500 more inmates by the end of the year.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the three-judge panel in 2011. Asked why he thinks the state could prevail in court this year, Brown said, "Well, because it's many years later."

He said the state has spent billions of dollars on the prison system since the nation's highest court last considered the matter.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown attends a memorial ceremony for law enforcement officers on Monday, May 6, 2013 in Sacramento. David Siders/Sacramento Bee

Dan Walters Daily: Brown 'not a wily old politician for nothing'

2013-05-06T13:00:01Z

It may look like Gov. Jerry Brown is playing a high-risk game by tussling with the feds over California's prison population, but Dan says it reflects the governor's political skill.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

AM Alert: Cannabis advocacy groups lobby California Capitol

2013-05-06T13:00:00Z

After legalizing medical pot back in 1996, California has lagged behind decriminalization standard-bearers such as Colorado and Washington state. Americans for Safe Access and its California counterpart are in Sacramento today, arguing for updated legal standards as part of their lobby day.

Bills of interest include Assembly Bill 473, which would establish a marijuana-regulation arm within the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Senate Bill 283, which would keep people convicted of drug offenses from losing their eligibility for CalWORKs and CalFresh.

Separately, marijuana activists will be protesting a crackdown on dispensaries with a series of rallies across California. The demonstrations, organized by the Patient Advocacy Network, include a noon protest outside the Sacramento Federal Building. The cannabis confluence is apparently a coincidence -- Americans for Safe Access and the Patient Advocacy Network did not coordinate their efforts, a spokeswoman tells Capitol Alert.

Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to challenge the federal government over California's prison population is a "win-win" for the governor, Dan Walters says.

PEACE OFFICERS MEMORIAL: The California Peace Officers Memorial Foundation is holding a ceremony today to honor officers who have fallen in the line of duty. The service is this morning, near the California Police Officer Memorial off 10th Street. The memorialized officers are Deputy Robert Lee Paris Jr. of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and Officer Kenyon M. Youngstrom of the California Highway Patrol. Speakers at the ceremony will include Gov. Jerry Brown, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joseph Farrow and Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana.

LATINO SPIRIT AWARDS: The California Latino Legislative Caucus hosts its 12th annual Latino Spirit Awards celebration to honor leaders for the work in public service, film, athletics, literature and art. Honorees this year include former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who previously served in both the state Senate and the Assembly. Click here to see the full list and their bios. They'll receive their awards on the Assembly floor.

MOTORCYCLE MANDATES: Bike enthusiasts from the American Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education are rolling into town today for a "motorcycle and freedom awareness" rally on the east steps at 11 a.m. (apparently we are in the midst of National Motorcycle Awareness Month). Expected attendees include Sens. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar; Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield; Rod Wright, D-Inglewood; and Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres; as well as Assembly members Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks; Brian Jones, R-Santee; Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga; and Marie Waldron, R-Escondido.

EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE: In honor of California-Mexico Advocacy Day, a delegation from our neighbors down south will be meeting with legislators today. In keeping with this year's theme of bolstering California and Mexico working together on higher education, Mexican higher education officials will be meeting with representatives from the University of California system and the Senate's Select Committee on California-Mexico Cooperation is holding a 3:30 p.m. hearing on educational exchanges.

PHOTO CREDIT: An employee collects money from customers after they bought marijuana at HopeNet in San Francisco. Paul Kitagaki Jr./ Sacramento Bee file, 2012

Ex-lawmaker Nathan Fletcher switches again - now a Democrat

2013-05-04T23:45:44Z

Former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who was considered one of the Republican Party's likeliest future contenders for statewide office before abandoning the party to become an independent last year, announced today that he has become a Democrat.

Fletcher, 36, abandoned the Republican Party in his failed campaign for San Diego mayor. It is unclear what ambition he may have within the Democratic Party.

Fletcher announced his change of registration on his Facebook page this morning, in a message he said he also sent donors and supporters.

"I was reluctant to make this move," Fletcher wrote. "It wasn't due to any doubt about where I belong. It was simple dread over the criticism I would face."

Fletcher said he does not know if he will run for office again but has no current plan to. He went to work for one of his district's largest employers, Qualcomm, when he left the Assembly in December.

Fletcher said in his Facebook post that the Democratic Party "reflects my values and beliefs." He said he watched President Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention last year three times "trying to find something I disagreed with."

"I couldn't," Fletcher wrote. "It was clear - at least to me - that I was a Democrat."

PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Fletcher speaks during an Assembly session on Jan. 30, 2012. AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli

Steinberg doesn't see Senate passing Brown's CA prisons plan

2013-05-03T21:14:50Z

The plan for reducing California prison population that Gov. Jerry Brown's administration proposed in response to a court order doesn't have fans in the Legislature so far.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said today that he doesn't see the Senate adopting the proposals the governor submitted to a three-judge panel last night.

"I'm sympathetic with the governor here," Steinberg said today. "He put out these untenable choices under protest but I'm not for that."

Steinberg said aspects of the proposal that would allow more inmates to be released, such as expanding good behavior credits for felons, are not "consistent with public safety." Spending to contract with counties or building facilities to increase bed capacity also doesn't make sense, he said.

Steinberg said he'd rather try to increase funding for rehabilitation programs, an option he said could provide more stable, long-term reductions to the inmate population. He said he hopes the courts address that in future decisions.

"The federal courts don't have to consider the very true dilemma that if we spend more money in building more prisons or jail beds, that's less money to invest in mental health, substance abuse, treatment and vocational training for parolees and probationers," he said. "The key is to reduce recidivism, not to keep building more capacity."

]]> The Sacramento Democrat said he agrees with the governor that conditions at the state's prisons have improved enough to pass constitutional muster.

"My belief is that this governor, that he is managing and his administration is managing the prisons very well," Steinberg said. "It is a marked difference between what's going on now, in part because of realignment but also management in contrast with several years ago."

Republicans were also critical of both the ruling by a three-judge panel that the state must further reduce its prison population and parts of the plan submitted by Brown's administration last night.

GOP Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, who serves as vice chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, said proposals that would lead to more inmates being released will result in "huge public outcry because crime is going to increase and communities are not going to want to hear excuses."

"I think we've done everything we possibly can to comply with the law and to make sure the accommodations if you will are adequate and lawful, but it's not a vacation, it's prison," the Lake Elsinore Republican said. "It's not going to be resort-style accommodations. There are certain things we have to comply with under the law. I'm starting to feel now (the court is) pushing it further and further just because they can."

RELATED:

Prisons chief calls court-ordered plan 'unnecessary and unsafe

Brown says more prison releases require Legislature to act

PHOTO CREDIT: Senate President Pro Temp Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento during session in the Senate chambers on Monday, March 11, 2013. Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua.

Advocates for CA inmate rights blast Jerry Brown's prison plan

2013-05-03T20:48:00Z

Groups that advocate for inmates' rights and against the expansion of the prison system railed Friday against Gov. Jerry Brown's latest plan to reduce the state's prison population, saying the governor is resorting to "fear mongering" instead of pursuing changes that will lead to fewer people being incarcerated in the state.

The Brown administration filed the court-ordered plan under protest Thursday night, maintaining that the state has done enough to cut its prison population and provide sufficient access to health care. California Corrections Secretary Jeff Beard called the plan -- which includes proposals to release hundreds of inmates who have received good behavior credits or are elderly or ill -- "unnecessary and unsafe." The state plans to appeal a three-judge panel's ruling that further reductions are needed to comply with a 2009 court order.

Representatives from the prisoners' rights groups blasted both Brown administration's premise and the policies it included in the report during a late morning press call.
]]> Vanessa Nelson, a co-director of Life Support Alliance, which seeks to reduce the number of people serving life sentences, said Brown's continued insistence that the state prison system is fine, despite the court rulings, "shows that he is either obstinate or delusional."

"He's trying to scare Californians, and he's trying to scare the Legislature into believing that (with) any kind of reform these people will run amok and commit more crimes and that's not true," added Misty Rojo, a program coordinator with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners who served 10 years in a women's facility in Central California.

The advocates were also critical of the plan itself.

Anti-prison activist Roger White said he is "really disappointed" in Brown's focus on meeting the court orders through expansion of the prison system, such as adding or renting additional beds and allowing more inmates to participate in a firefighting program. White works for Critical Resistance, a national group that opposes expansion of the prison system.

"We're convinced that the only real way that you reduce the prison population in a sustainable way is to reduce the capacity of the state to imprison people," he said. "Jerry Brown's plan goes in the opposite direction."

White was especially critical of proposals to transfer some prisoners to facilities run by Alameda and Los Angeles counties, a move he said would "move the prison crisis on the state level to the counties." Los Angeles, he said, recently applied for state funds to expand its own facilities to meet its current needs.

"Now the state is going to turn around and lease beds from a county that is going after state dollars to relieve overcrowding in its system? It makes absolutely no sense," White said.

Brown's administration says the Legislature needs to act to implement his plan if the appeal is not successful. The advocates said they will continue to press lawmakers on enacting their own alternative solutions for reducing the inmate population.

RELATED:
Brown says more prison releases require Legislature to act
Prisons chief calls court-ordered plan 'unnecessary and unsafe'

Editor's note: An earlier version of this post misspelled White as Wright in one instance. The Bee regrets the error.

PHOTO CREDIT: California Gov. Jerry Brown talks about federal oversight of the state's prison system at a news conference at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 8, 2013. Randall Benton / Sacramento Bee.

Dan Walters Daily: Where are California's gas taxes going?

2013-05-03T13:00:01Z

Dan wonders why California has awful traffic congestion and road conditions despite having gasoline taxes that are the highest in the nation.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

AM Alert: Highway 50 interchange named for Sen. Dave Cox

2013-05-03T13:00:00Z

California lawmakers are honoring former state senator Dave Cox today with a ceremony christening the Highway 50 interchange at Hazel Avenue as the Sen. Dave Cox Memorial Interchange.

Husband-and-wife legislator team Sen. Ted Gaines and Assemblywoman Beth Gaines, both Rocklin Republicans, will be joined by Cox family members as well as Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan and others in commemorating the longtime legislator at 10:30 a.m.

Cox was first elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving for six years in the Assembly. He died in 2010 at age 72. The interchange isn't far from where he'd lived.

FISCAL BILL DEADLINE: Today is the last day for policy committees to hear and report fiscal bills to fiscal committees -- so, because there are no committee meetings on the file today, the deadline has for all intents and purposes passed. Here at Capitol Alert, we know a thing or two about keeping up with deadlines.

VIDEO: Dan Walters is perplexed by the fact that California's relatively high gasoline taxes don't translate into less traffic and better roads.

]]> PTA CONVENTION: This promises to be a very educational weekend. For one thing, thousands of parents and educators are converging on San Jose for the 114th annual California State PTA convention. They'll be discussing everything from bullying to the Common Core standards California is in the process of adopting. They'll also be hearing from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who in addition to being a Hall of Fame basketball player and a surprisingly good comedy actor is also apparently California's science, technology, engineering and math afterschool ambassador.

MORE EDUCATION: Meanwhile, Assembly Education Committee Chair Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, will be splitting her time between two different education events. The first is an education policy update for constituents with Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park. That's at the Palo Alto Unified School District board room on Saturday at 10 a.m.

There's also a big public education conference on Saturday at the San Jose Convention Center, where Buchanan will be among a bevy of education wonks and public officials. Also expected to attend are Linda Darling-Hammond, an eminent education expert and chair of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing; Michael W. Kirst, president of the California State Board of Education; Martha J. Kanter, under secretary of education for the U.S. Department of Education; Tim Melton, vice president of legislative affairs for StudentsFirst; and superintendents from Vallejo City and San Francisco.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley, who turns 54 on Saturday.

PHOTO CREDIT: A portrait of Senator Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, is displayed Aug. 5, 2010, at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento during the late senator's memorial. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee file, 2010

Editor's note: An earlier version of this post mistakenly said Assemblyman Richard Bloom would be attending an education event -- Assemblyman Rich Gordon will be at the event in Palo Alto.

Former Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia to run for state Senate

2013-05-02T22:24:00Z

Former Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia is looking to return to the Legislature.

The Palm Desert Republican announced this week that she will run for the 28th Senate District in the 2014 election, rolling out a list of local GOP endorsements along with word of her candidacy.

The Riverside County-centered district will be up for grabs next year.

Garcia represented the 80th Assembly District, which at the time covered Imperial County and part of Riverside County, from 2002 to 2008.

She was later appointed by GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to a six-figure post on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. She now runs her own public affairs firm.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Then Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Palm Desert, talks during a 2007 legislative briefing inside the state Capitol. Brian Baer / Sacramento Bee file, 2007

CA Assembly OKs denying out-of-state athletes compensation

2013-05-02T20:07:00Z

Professional athletes like Reggie Williams and Lorenzo Neal are accustomed to helping their teams win on the football field. They've been less successful in winning over California lawmakers.

The Assembly overrode opposition from current and former professional athletes Thursday in approving a measure to limit workers compensation claims by out-of-state athletes.

The National Football League Players Association brought Williams, Neal and other athletes to the state Capitol last month in an effort to persuade legislators to kill the legislation.

But Assembly members voted 57-1 for Assembly Bill 1309. Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, D-Fresno, called his legislation an attempt "to ensure that California's workers comp system is no unjustly longer exploited by every professional athlete from every state in America."

"If you've at least just dressed out, maybe pitched one inning, maybe you got to play one game, maybe you suited up but never left the bench," Perea said on the Assembly floor. "But that still qualifies you to file for a California workers comp claim, even though the vast majority of your time played could have been in Florida, could have been in Texas or Massachusetts."

Perea said he wasn't trying to deny workers compensation to athletes for whom injuries are an unavoidable occupational hazard. The bill allows athletes to seek California workers compensation if they spent at least 80 percent of their career with a California team.

PHOTO CREDIT: Former Oakland Raider Nick Bell, 44, left, waits April 15 as former Cincinnati Bengals Reggie Williams uses crutches as he walks to the podium to talk about his opposition to Assembly Bill 1309. Paul Kitagaki Jr. / Sacramento Bee.

North Fork casino compact passes Assembly

2013-05-02T19:09:43Z

California's North Fork Rancheria Band of Mono Indians is a step closer to getting a casino after the Assembly narrowly ratified a gambling compact on Thursday morning.

The floor vote came months after Gov. Jerry Brown affirmed the federal government's determination that the North Fork tribe could acquire property about 35 miles from their ancestral lands to build a casino in Madera County. The unconventional process has spurred intense lobbying, with opponents saying it contradicts the principle of Native Americans building on existing tribal lands. The compact also are opposed by competing tribal casinos.

But Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, who carried Assembly Bill 277, cast the bill as a sorely needed economic boost for the North Fork tribe, who he said merely want "the same right granted to every other sovereign tribe in the state of California."

"This compact would put Californians back to work," Hall said in a speech on the Assembly floor, adding that "tribal gaming has replaced welfare with work. "Tribal gaming has replaced despair with hope and dependency with self-reliance."
]]> The legislation also advances a compact between California and the Wiyot Tribe. In March, the Wiyot Tribe surrendered the right to build on its environmentally sensitive land in exchange for a chunk of the proceeds from the North Fork tribe's gambling profits; if the North Fork tribe doesn't get the necessary approval, the Wiyot Tribe can nix the compact.

"This tribe has survived disease, slavery and expulsion from their land," Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, said of the Wiyot Tribe, adding that the tribe has managed to survive but "badly" needs the revenue from the compact to fund social programs.

The bill's fate was uncertain throughout the morning. It initially appeared to garner 38 votes, three short of a majority, before ultimately attaining the 41 needed to pass. A dozen lawmakers opposed the move, with the rest of the 80-member house not voting. The bill now heads to the Senate.

"We already knew that it was going to be close," Hall told Capitol Alert after the vote. "Some members were in contemplation. They wanted to be the last person to vote with the bill."

PHOTO CREDIT: The North Fork Rancheria Band of Mono Indians moved closer to getting the green light for building a casino like the the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Rocklin shown here. June 17, 2010. Randall Benton/The Sacramento Bee.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has been updated from previous versions to clarify that the casino would be about 35 miles from the tribe's ancestral lands. Updated at 1:34 p.m. May 2, 2013.