Important History and Background on CAGE

History: Despite the fact that the California Constitution (Art. IV, Sec. 19 a) states that "The Legislature has no power to authorize lotteries and shall prohibit the sale of lottery tickets in the State," Califonia has experienced a rapid expansion of gambling in the past 20 years. It required four statewide votes over a period of a dozen yeas to authorize pari-mutuel wagering on horse races. Betting on horses finally passed in 1933. Satellite wagering on horserace at county fairgrounds was legalized in 1994. It took several years to legalized wagering by telephone on horse races in 2001.

CAP was very involved in the statewide vote on establishing a State Lottery in 1984. CAP established the "Coalition Against Legalized Lotteries" (CALL) as a California corporation. CALL raised $70,000 and became the principle organization opposing a state lottery. Bishop Jack Tuell of the United Methodist Church was the president of CALL, Gov. George Duekmejian was the honorary chair, and Harvey Chinn was the Executive Director. It was a vigorous campaign, but the Bally Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia, spent $1.5 million, promised billions of dollars to the schools with no tax increase, and Proposition 37 legalized the lottery by a YES vote of 5,398,096. NO's: 3,924,346.

Bingo was legalized in 1976, and charitable gambling was voted into the Constitution in 2000.

Indian casino gambling came to California with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1988. The Cabazon tribe of 25 members sued the State of California, claiming the right to conduct gambling without State authorization or state taxes. The Cabazon tribe won their case. Shortly thereafter Indian tribes began to illegally operate slot machines. After many court challenges, Proposition 5 was on the State Ballot on Nov. 3, 1998. The tribes spent $60,000,000 to win a major victory: 5,092,446 to 3,924,346. CAP was one of the few organizations that opposed Prop 5. Proposition 5 was later declared unconstitutional, and the State Legislature quickly enacted Proposition 1-A, which changed the State Constitution to give Indian tribe a monopoly to operate slot machines. CAP was the only statewide organization that opposed Proposition 1-A. It passed by a vote of 4,295,280 to 2,359.478. CAP was a "friend of the court" in challenging Prop 1-A. After a year of deliberation, a Federal Judge stated that the Indians' right to self-determination overruled the Constitutional guarantee of "equal protection under the law" By Judge Levy's decision, Prop 1-A remained in the Califonia Constitution. This case is now under appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court

Since CAP and its constituent denominational members oppose gambling, and since there are increasing threats to expand gambling in California, the CAP Board voted in 2002 to form the "California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion." CAGE was incorporated on Jan. 29, 2003. with the stated purpose, "to shape gambling policies in the State of California and to carry on other education, nonprofit activities associated with this goal as allowed by law." Directors of CAP also serve as directors of CAGE.