On Wednesday, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee voted to approve AB 2863, an online poker measure that will now move forward for a possible vote in the full Assembly. The measure was supposed to be voted on last week but was delayed as new amendments were made to the measure.
This week, the new amendments were added which seemingly helped the measure move forward. Included in the changes was the language that a ‘bad actor’ clause excludes operators of online poker who accepted players from California after the passes of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act from 2006. Operators who did this have the option to pay an additional fee of $20 million or wait a five year time frame in which to apply for licensing.
The state will also collect 10% of all gaming revenues and the money will go towards the General Fund of the state, regardless as to if the $60 million subsidy for the horse racing industry is reached. Licensees will pay $12.5 million in deposit money of which half will be offset by reduced taxes on gaming revenues earned.
There are still concerns over online poker, despite the bill moving forward. Many felt that the penalty of $20 million for bad actors was not a high enough amount and that the regulations were not explained well enough.
Despite passing the Appropriations Committee vote, the bill must now move past the full Assembly. A two thirds majority vote is required and there is still opposition which may affect a vote on the measure. The Pechanga and Agua Caliente tribes are still opposed to the bill despite the new amendments. The bad actor portion of the measure is still something the tribes have a problem with.
It will be interesting to see if the bill is able to move forward and if the state will be well on the path to offering online poker. California is one state that has continued to struggle with passing legislation for online poker, having tried for many years to successfully pass legislation but failing to do so time and time again.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.