Two interesting issues moved forward today at the Capitol… as a prominent Indian tribe’s new gambling agreement cleared a big hurdle, and a deal was struck on the contentious issue of raising the minimum wage.

First, Indian gaming… where the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians secured Senate approval of the new gaming agreement it negotiated with Governor Schwarzenegger. The new compact will allow Agua to more than double their number of slot machines, and also build a third casino on their tribal lands near Palm Springs. In return, the state gets a fixed percentage of the profits from the existing slots, and a larger chunk of the profits from machines added later. But labor groups have been grousing about the deal, specifically because they wanted more explicit language regarding casino workers’ rights. This afternoon, the bill squeaked through the Senate, after some fairly intense lobbying in Capitol hallways from tribal and labor groups. And with only 8 days left in the legislative year, the question now is whether the agreement will have another committee hearing in the Assembly, or whether it will be fast-tracked to the Assembly floor.

One tribe’s victory is hard to notice without also mentioning another tribe’s problems… just outside the Capitol, members of the Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians are continuing to protest the legislative blockade created against their gaming deal with the state. Los Coyotes, one of two tribes looking to set up casinos in Barstow, has seen their compact languish a slow death, after criticisms that the casinos would be too far from native lands– and an example of what critics call “reservation shopping.”

Elsewhere, a big political and policy debate over minimum wage appears to be over. Multiple sources have confirmed that a deal has been struck to raise base pay in California by a total of $1.25, in two steps, between January 2007 and January 2008, to a total of $8 an hour. A formal announcement may not come until tomorrow.

Democrats did not get their way when it comes to automatic, future increases tied to the cost of living. They did, though, get a quarter more than the governor had wanted. Regardless, don’t be surprised if you see this tentative deal… one that Democrats helped make happen and one that the governor’s team will undoubtedly use to show him as a moderate… in campaign rhetoric and analysis over the next few weeks. One wonders how the campaign of Democrat Phil Angelides will react.