If the Legislature signs off on a deal to allow two Indian tribes from different parts of the state to converge and build side-by-side casinos in the city of Barstow, will it be making lemonade out of lemons... or setting a dangerous precedent for expansion of tribal gaming?

Those seemed to be the key questions in a marathon hearing of the Senate Governmental Operations Committee that lasted into the evening, and included at least one testy exchange between lawmakers.

Under discussion were gaming agreements between Governor Schwarzenegger and two tribes: San Diego County's Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians and the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County (actually, only Big Lagoon's deal was on the agenda).

The agreements would allow each tribe to build a casino in Barstow, more than 150 miles from Los Coyotes' tribal lands and more than 700 miles from those of Big Lagoon. In part, the deal would settle Big Lagoon's seven year legal battle with the state, which arose over environmental concerns about a casino on the tribe's north coast reservation. Barstow city leaders also support the deal, leading Schwarzenegger tribal negotiator Daniel Kolkey to tell the committee it's a "win-win" agreement.

But two Democrats, committee chairman Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) and Sen. Gloria Romero (D-LA), seemed skeptical and suggested the deal could set a precedent for off-reservation Indian gaming in areas where a tribe has no ancestral ties.

Florez also wondered aloud whether necessary approval of the proposal by the U.S. Department of the Interior shouldn't happen before the Legislature weighs in. "Why shouldn't the state wait?," said Florez.

But there was clearly tension about the direction of the hearing. And the lawmaker representing Big Lagoon's part of the state, Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata), stormed off the dais after Florez allowed representatives of some of the state's most powerful gaming tribes to speak ahead of the Big Lagoon tribal chairman, Virgil Moorehead.

"What's wrong?," Florez asked Chesbro, who then stoood directly over Florez sitting in his chair.

"In my seven years here [in the Legislature], I've never seen a hearing like this," snapped Chesbro. "This is the biggest stacked deck. You know, there's no fair consideration being given to the Big Lagoon Rancheria," Chesbro said before leaving.

"Nice scene," snapped back Florez. Senator Chesbro later returned.

The hearing certainly seemed to raise the possibility that the agreement is far from sailing through the Legislature, where the climate toward new Indian gaming deals has seemed to worsen since the 2004 stalemate over a massive tribal casino proposed for the Bay Area.