California Governor Gavin Newsom has staked his national political brand on being a champion for the everyday workers of our state. He’s held countless press conferences to celebrate every warehouse opening and factory expansion, making “jobs first” the centerpiece of his legacy as he works toward a potential presidential bid. But where is he for thousands of workers as the state’s Attorney General moves to potentially eliminate more than 30,000 jobs and crash the tax base and budgets of communities across California?
His silence is not an accident.
In 2025, Attorney General Rob Bonta proposed regulations, developed by the DOJ’s Bureau of Gambling Control, that would detrimentally impact every cardroom in the state. The move was essentially uniformly opposed by California businesses, unions, and municipalities, which called it an unprecedented power grab initiated by AG Bonta at the behest of lobbyists for the state’s larger tribal casinos. The cardroom industry filed lawsuits in March of this year, which challenge the validity of the regulations and seek to stop the AG from implementing them. But it’s the workers in these cardrooms that will pay the heaviest price.
California’s cardroom industry, both directly and indirectly, supports around 32,000 living-wage jobs, totaling $1.64 billion in salaries and benefits for dealers, floor managers, security staff, and restaurant employees. These are not tech workers with equity packages; they are hard-working employees in many communities where steady gigs are already scarce.
The DOJ itself has estimated that the new regulations will reduce revenue in cardrooms by $464 million annually and boost revenue for tribal-owned casinos by $232 million annually. It’s not only the salaries of cardroom workers that could be greatly affected by the regulations, but many municipalities in California are also placed in peril.
In cities like Commerce and Bell Gardens, where cardroom revenue fuels over 40% of the general fund, fiscal emergencies have already been declared. Police. Fire. Parks. Senior programs. All of it is in danger of being on the chopping block.
AG Bonta has not acted alone in what appears to be a strange crusade to eliminate jobs. Tribes successfully lobbied the Legislature for the right to sue cardrooms in state court via SB 549 in 2024. While these lawsuits against cardrooms were ultimately thrown out, the Tribes have continued their crusade. Now, the Governor is noticeably silent as the potential consequences unfold.
You don’t have to follow the money very far to see how this all came to be. The state’s tribes have spent about 6 times more on state races since 2014 than on cardrooms. At the same time, California tribal casinos’ (untaxed) gross gaming revenues have skyrocketed to more than $12 billion annually, helping them build a lobbying war chest that dwarfs the $1.4 billion cardroom industry.
Bonta’s campaign has received numerous contributions from the tribal gaming industry. Instead of staying silent, Governor Newsom should be asking questions. Mainly, why is the AG—whose job is to enforce laws, not write them—now unilaterally shaping policy with massive economic consequences to the state, in a manner that only benefits wealthy tribal political contributors?
Respecting tribal sovereignty and protecting 32,000 cardroom jobs should not be mutually exclusive.
Tribal casinos already have the ability to offer banked card games and slot machines, options that have always been unavailable to cardrooms, and they will retain this advantage regardless of the outcome of this dispute. Eliminating cardroom jobs isn’t competition; it’s consolidation. Our governor and lawmakers in Sacramento cannot stay silent and allow the AG to hand tribal casinos a quarter-billion-dollar annual windfall while cities stand to lose essential income that funds basic services, and workers in Commerce and Bell Gardens lose their livelihoods.
Governor Newsom needs to call on AG Bonta to pause these regulations while a full, independent review is conducted.
Governor Newsom—tens of thousands of Californians are in danger of losing the jobs they rely on to support their families because of Bonta’s regulations. Is that an image you want portrayed as you enter the National Stage? You can’t be ‘jobs first’ if your state is threatening to eliminate an entire industry.
Lee Neves is a California political strategist and Central Valley native.
Copyright © 2026 California Business Journal. All Rights Reserved.
For California Business Journal Disclaimers, go to /terms-conditions/.
