On October 14 of last year — fewer than three weeks after Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed California Senate Bill 359 on September 28, allowing the state’s casino owning Native American tribes to sue card rooms for offering black jack and Pai Gow poker games that threatened the tribes’ lucrative gusher of gambling revenue — eight Republican legislators tucked into a free meal valued at $127.92 each and provided by the Viejas Casino’s Grove Steakhouse in San Diego County.
For Viejas, the newly signed SB 359 was big reason to celebrate with their Republican dinner guests. Because the tribes are sovereign governments, they lacked legal standing to sue the state’s 80 or so privately-owned gambling halls.
“The bill gave tribes a three-month window to sue card rooms starting Jan. 1,” reported the California news website CalMatters in a January 3, 2025 dispatch.
