California Lawmaker Introduces Online Poker BillBill Will Study the Legality of Online Poker in California |
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California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine has introduced a bill that calls for the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) to investigate if online poker could be played by people in California through systems set up by Californians.
The bill calls for the CGCC to perform a study that would determine if current federal laws designed to curb online gambling would apply to online poker in California. The study shall include, but not be limited to, “regulatory oversight and licensing, technological issues, underage and problem gambling matters, methods of play and types of games that may be legally offered, economic benefits to state and local governments, and the means by which those games and forms of gambling may be conducted and operated.”
The CGCC has a deadline of June 30, 2009, to complete the study, which calls for the CGCC to also work with the Department of Justice to determine if the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act applies to transactions within a state.
Levine told Capitol Weekly, a newspaper that focuses on politics in California, that his understanding of current laws is that as long as the player and the server are located in the same state federal laws can’t be used stop online poker. His bill is designed to give California lawmakers and residents an absolute answer to that question.
The bill, AB 2026, does not say how online poker would be run in the state, nor who would be able to open online poker rooms. It’s the first step to determine if federal laws would be broken if California lawmakers decide to allow its citizens access to online poker rooms located there. The bill may be heard in committee as early as March 20.
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