Save CA Drumcorps

[Jeff DeMello]

PLEASE ACT NOW to help save drum corps in California!

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Hi all,

SB1369 Remote Calling Bingo passed the Assembly 66-3 and the Senate 24-9. Assemblyman DeSaulnier voted against the bill and was one of the 3. Senator Torlakson voted for the bill after commenting that he was very concerned about the bill and the impacts on The Blue Devils.

The bill will be on the Governors desk as soon as the California Budget gets worked out. He will have then 30 days to act on the bill. We need a grass root effort to encourage the Governor to VETO SB1369. We need thousands of letters sent. Here is what we are asking you to do.

You can Visit California Charity Alliance for more information .. and please keep reading below.

Fax, email or mail Governor Schwarzenegger today and urge him to VETO SB 1369 when it comes across his desk.

Instructions to Submit Letter

• Below for your reference is a draft letter asking the Governor to veto SB 1369. Feel free to edit the letter and include any language that you feel is important.

• Insert your name into letter at the bottom

• Print and sign letter

• Fax, E-Mail, or Mail your letter today to the State Capitol:

• Fax a copy of your letter back to the California Charity Alliance for our records: 213-221-1103 (Fax)

If you have any questions or need additional information please contact Brian Barreto or Elena Christopolous at 213-814-4442.

Please also sign the online petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/VetoSB1369/

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SAMPLE LETTER --- NOTE, I've updated the 2nd paragraph

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Governor of California

State Capitol Building

Sacramento, CA 95814

916-558-3160 (Fax)

governor@governor.ca.gov (Email)

RE: VETO SB1369

To: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: 


SB 1369 does not just clarify the law on electronic aids to bingo; it contains many other provisions that will cripple charity bingo in California, and which will have unforeseen ramifications on the State.

The bill creates linked statewide bingo lottery games for a handful of large statewide nonprofits. These large charities will have a legislated monopoly because community bingo halls across the State would not be allowed to use this technology and regulation exclusivity in SB1369 in their one location bingo games. All these provisions will greatly impact local charity bingo games that raise needed funds for their communities where state and local governments do not provide similar services.

The large remote-caller bingo games also may resemble private lotteries, and adversely impact the state lottery. The operators can sell tickets all week even if the games only occur on one day. A player can just stop by for a few minutes on that one day to check the game results. The proponents have said they estimate several hundred million dollars in sales for the games and “Life-Altering Prizes”, which means fewer lottery ticket sales. They have said gleefully about their linked games: “It is like Wal-Mart coming to town and smaller drug stores will be shut down.’ The bill also may expand tribal gaming by allowing Internet gaming.

There is no emergency: only a few charities have used Class II electronic bingo machines and with no effect on tribal gaming revenues. The State has already determined that the bingo devices do not violate the compacts’ exclusivity and a state judge has ordered some types of electronic bingo machines NOT to be removed.

This is a hastily written “gut and amend” bill that was pushed through during the final 8 days of the legislative session with many legislators candidly admitting that they do not understand the remote caller aspects and the impacts. The vast majority of charities that raise money throughout California by using bingo to help children and people with disabilities, groups that work to prevent homelessness orphaned and abandoned children to provide kids with meals, shelter and education, organizations that support youth music and sports, also groups that offer rehabilitation programs for US war veterans DO NOT support this bill.

There are better solutions: If the law needs to be clarified on electronic bingo, then that should be done in a bill next year unaccompanied by all the other provisions in this bill.

Sincerely,

<your name>

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Press About SB1369

LA Times

California tribes seek to ban electronic bingo

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bi...0,3121465.story

“Rich, politically powerful Indian tribes are pushing California legislators to outlaw some casino competition: slot-like bingo machines that generate millions of dollars for high school sports teams, the blind and disabled.”

“The proposed ban was written only two weeks ago – months after the deadline for introducing legislation. State Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) gutted a bill about school lunches and inserted the bingo measure.”

“Tribes ‘have the political power because they have the money,’ said I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor and gambling law expert.”

CC Times

Lawmakers push ban on electronic bingo

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/l...0704?source=rss

"But Gibbs, of the Blue Devils, said charities like his could never generate enough new players to make remote-caller bingo profitable. Opponents of the bill say the pooled games would expand statewide gambling and could crimp State Lottery revenues."

"Questioning the rush, Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, cast one of the three no votes"

Sacramento Bee

Editorial B-I-N-G-O V-E-T-O

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/1179134.html

“Every session of the Legislature offers several examples of some big interest groups ganging up to kick the stuffing out of a smaller interest group. In this session, the premier example centers on the seemingly innocuous game of bingo.”

“The big guys in this instance are the state's Indian tribes…(who) have joined forces to push through a bill that would outlaw electronic bingo machines, and in the process cripple fundraising efforts for an untold number of small charities across California.”

“This bill takes care of the tribes…at the expense of countless smaller charities…that rely on electronic games. These charities do good works but are simply no match for the army of lobbyists at the disposal of the tribes…”

“One of the classic Hollywood movie clichés involves the hero stepping in to stop the big guy from kicking the little guy around. Such a script typically requires the presence of a strong, manly hero with a flair for the dramatic and an innate sense of fairness.”

“Now, that seems to strike a familiar chord. Is there anybody around the Capitol these days who could fill such a role, with a pen if not with fists? Is there, Governor?”

Guards, tribes unions work Capitol

http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_10343327

“The tribes' casinos have a legal monopoly on slot machines, reap many billions of dollars from them ‘every year and don't countenance any competition’.”

“There is a double irony attached to the tribes' bill. The charities' electronic bingo games are quite similar to those that tribes themselves operated before they gained their legal monopoly, and one section of their bill could open the door to the tribes offering Internet-based gambling.”

Bingo bill took circuitous route through Capitol

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1205296.html

"U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez is issuing a preliminary injunction against the state Department of Justice, preventing any seizure of the bingo machines until the case is heard. Mendez suggests Attorney General Brown is being prodded by tribes' threats to suspend revenue-sharing payments. "This is all about a political process that is pushing the attorney general to enforce its interpretation of the law," Mendez says. "That's the elephant in this room."

Campaign finance statements filed with the secretary of state's office show the five tribes that had new casino deals approved by the Legislature last year gave a combined total of $656,700 to 70 of the 120 legislators during the first six months of 2008.

Editorial: If tribes want it – BINGO! – they get it

"That said, this session's bingo bill once again highlights the clout of gambling tribes. When it comes to the Legislature, the tribes almost always get what they demand. What will they demand next?"

You an also visit http://www.savecharitybingo.org/

Thank you,

Edited September 5, 2008 by Jeff DeMello

[Mistress Kelli]

Done.

[Jeff DeMello]

Bump ... PLEASE FAX AND E-MAIL "The Governator" NOW!

[Michael Boo]

As posted above from the LA Times.

“Rich, politically powerful Indian tribes are pushing California legislators to outlaw some casino competition: slot-like bingo machines that generate millions of dollars for high school sports teams, the blind and disabled.”

Lots more people can relate emotionally to something that would affect the above than to an activity they likely have never experienced. I'd encourage letter writers to include the above groups in their letter.

PS: Please rate this thread.

Edited September 5, 2008 by Michael Boo

[mfrontz]

Bump ... PLEASE FAX AND E-MAIL "The Governator" NOW!

Signed the online petition and commented.

[cgmomma]

Done!

[Jeff DeMello]

Thank you Michael!

Thank you Chip!

Thank you cgmomma!

Now, we just need the other 354 current people logged onto DCP to do the same!

[DCIHasBeen]

Done!

And I also joined the Facebook group ... Great idea, Jeff.

[Jeff DeMello]

I hope you picked the last answer ... and if you did, please read this thread NOW!

[BozzlyB]

I'll definitely sign all that stuff as soon as I get home, can't do it from work. However, I do have to believe that the end of bingo in California would not mean the end of drum corps in California. There are currently a number of top 12 corps who operate with NO income from bingo, one of them being Blue Stars, which could be used as models for other corps who may stand to lose bingo.

Edited September 5, 2008 by BozzlyB