California Taking Another Look at Online PokerLawmakers Introduce New Bill Friday |
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California is ready to take another crack at online gaming.
On Friday, a pair of lawmakers introduced The Internet Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act of 2012, which would permit the activity within the state’s borders.
Poker would be the only game allowed for an initial period of two years.
After a regulatory framework is created, eligible entities would apply for a 10-year license. The bill would require each site to pay a $30 million licensing fee, which would be credited against monthly fees on revenue.
The legislation is seeking “to provide hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the public services that have been cut repeatedly during the state’s budget crisis.” Lawmakers plan to raise at least $200 million from online gaming fees in the 2012-13 fiscal year.
Efforts to pass the bill won’t be easy.
Gov. Jerry Brown remains skeptical on the issue and its potential help to the budget deficit, the L.A. Times reported earlier this year.
The tribal casino industry in the Golden State, which forks over hundreds of millions per year for gaming compacts, has historically been fiercely divided on the issue.
Robert Smith, Chairman of the California Tribal Business Alliance, said last year that many stakeholders would be “irreparably harmed” if a bill that was then on the table was rushed.
In early February, gaming experts converged on Capitol Hill to talk about how a federal online gaming bill would impact tribes. Attorney I. Nelson Rose testified that a large licensing fee in California would leave my tribal casinos out in the cold.
While California is looking at legalizing Internet poker, Nevada has already done so and has such an industry on the horizon. Regulators in the Silver State are nearing the potential licensing of poker sites.
In an intrastate introduction to online poker, player pools would be limited to residents and visitors. One potential Internet poker operator told Card Player that there would be enough liquidity under such a model, but that Nevada would love to have a state like California “come on board.”
Some gaming attorneys see the recent Department of Justice flip-flop on the Interstate Wire Act as cracking open the door for state coalitions.
Stay tuned to Card Player for more coverage on California’s push for online gaming.
Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus
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