With less than a month remaining in its legislative session, the President Pro Tem of the California Senate stated to a Golden State newspaper that he doesn’t expect a proposed bill that would regulate online poker on an intrastate basis to pass before the end of the term.
Jim Miller of the Riverside Press Enterprise interviewed Democratic President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg earlier this week regarding the future of a proposed bill that would open up California – by far the biggest prize in any online gaming endeavor – to an intrastate online poker system. In that interview, Sen. Steinberg opined that, with the legislative session ending on August 31, that “it’s possible, but I don’t see it” that such legislation would make its way through the California State Assembly.
Surprisingly, Sen. Steinberg is the co-author of a bill with Sen. Rod Wright that would open up the state for online poker operations. It is estimated that, simply through licensing fees alone for online operators, there would be a $200 million influx into the coffers of the state, which is facing a $16 billion shortfall. Since that bill was introduced by Sen. Wright, however, there has been a great deal of debate over the issue.
There are several factions inside the state of California that seem to be blocking the moves by the legislature to open up intrastate poker. The California Online Poker Association is in support of passing legislation, but the organization is opposed to the present state of the Wright/Steinberg bill.
The powerful Indian casinos throughout the state have differing opinions on the issue, according to Miller. Some, such as the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, are in favor of the Wright/Steinberg bill. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians support online regulation but are opposed to the proposed bill. Other tribes are completely against passage of any legalization of online poker.
The California horse racing industry is also opposed to the measure, perhaps because they have live poker rooms in action that might be affected by any online operations.
The negotiations regarding passing any legislation are continuing, but Sen. Steinberg doesn’t sound optimistic about the different factions coming together any time soon. “I’m not going to break a pick on this issue,” Sen. Steinberg is quoted by Miller in the Press Enterprise. “But I am willing to see it through if there is a little more consensus.”
The Wright/Steinberg bill has been under consideration since early this year. Called Senate Bill 1463, the proposal has been languishing in committee since that time. Back in June, Sen. Wright was moving forward with putting the bill in front of his committee, the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, but pulled the bill at the last minute due to the ongoing conflict between the different organizations in the state and the potential of the bill being voted down by his fellow Senators.
This hasn’t stopped potential operators from teaming up with California organizations if or when proposed legislation is passed, however. Back in May, the biggest online gaming company in the industry, bwin.Party, announced that it had signed an agreement with the United Auburn Indian Community to be its service provider for online poker. Under the present state of the Wright/Steinberg bill, a service provider would have to partner with an approved gaming operation in the state of California to be able to access the market.
It would be a market that any online gaming operation would want to be in. The state of California has a population of over 37 million people, making it the largest state in the U. S. If you figure that potentially 10% of its citizens would want to partake of an online poker outlet, the 3.7 million potential players would be a windfall for online poker operations and the state, which would earn additional revenue from taxation of individual players and the games.
