Pechanga chairman urges committee to support compact amendment adding flexibility, device increase

Mark McCarroll, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Indians, told the Assembly committee the 1st amendment modernizes the 2016 compact to reflect recent federal court rulings and to clarify revenue‑sharing and community benefit mechanisms. "This 1st amendment to the compact reflects the mature and respectful government to government relationship between Pechanga and the state of California," McCarroll said, framing the change as both legally necessary and longstanding cooperative governance.

McCarroll described specific elements included in the amendment: a tribe commitment not to sue on certain revenue terms, a workstream to clean up language implicated by the Chicken Ranch decision, and provisions that would allow Pechanga to add 1,000 gaming devices if economic conditions warrant. He also highlighted Pechanga's public‑safety role: "Our fully equipped Pechanga Fire Department is an active participant in the state of California master mutual aid system and is regularly dispatched on strike team assignments to wildfires throughout California and beyond." The chairman asked the committee to support the ratification bill when it reaches the Assembly floor.