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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For years, Gov. Pete Wilson has interpreted a 1988 federal law as giving him the authority to negotiate agreements, called "compacts," to set forth the conditions under which California Indian tribes can conduct gambling operations on their reservations. Many people agreed with the governor, believing he indeed had that unilateral authority.

But last week, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled that the governor must get the Legislature's consent to any compact he signs with the tribes, a ruling -- if ultimately upheld -- that could prove profoundly significant as the tribes seek to boost their revenues through lucrative gambling.

At issue is the agreement the Republican governor signed with the Pala Band of Mission Indians of San Diego County. The tribe currently does not engage in reservation, but it plans to.

Dozens of other tribes oppose the agreement, saying the governor intends to use it as a model for other compacts. The Pala compact, they say, is too restrictive and would cost the other tribes millions of dollars of income.

Until Connelly's ruling, a bill that had passed the Senate and currently awaits action in the Assembly was viewed merely as attempt to clarify and ratify the Pala compact. Its ultimate passage -- or defeat -- would not have had any impact on the other tribes' potential compacts, according to Senate Leader John Burton, who is carrying the bill.

But the bill now assumes major importance. Under Connelly's ruling, the Pala compact won't take effect unless the Burton bill, or some version of it, is approved by lawmakers and signed by the governor. This means the hitherto obscure bill now promises to become the focus of a major political war in Sacramento between legislators who have aligned themselves with opposing tribal interests.

The stakes are enormous. The tribes have money and have shown they are willing to spend it. Indeed, an Indian gambling initiative on the November ballot, bankrolled by tribes opposed to using the Pala compact as a model for agreements with more than 100 tribes, cost some $6 million to qualify and advertise. That figure doesn't include the all but certain blitz of television advertising that will flood the airwaves up through election day.

Lurking in the background are the Nevada gambling interests, who favor the more restrictive Pala agreement on the theory that it will cut less into their revenues from California gamblers who go to Las Vegas and Reno to gamble.

Also, the governor and the Legislature are moving toward deadlock on an overdue state budget. The fight over the governor's multibillion- dollar plan to cut the so-called "car tax," or vehicle license fees, is expected to delay the budget until the late summer. Each year, Capitol reporters hold an informal pool to choose the date the budget passes the Legislature; this year several picks are late August and early September for a budget that was due from the Legislature June 15.

For politicians, it's going to be a long, hot summer in Sacramento.

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