California makes "historic" online poker progress
Lawmakers vote unanimously in favour of passing an internet poker bill out of Committee for the first time
Lawmakers in the state of California has taken a “historic” step towards passing online poker legislation after voting in favour of a bill seeking to legalise the activity in the state.
AB 431, introduced by Assemblyman Adam Gray back in February, passed unanimously through the Assembly Governmental Organisation Committee yesterday.
The bill still faces an uphill battle to become law, but it is the first time lawmakers in the state have voted in favour of internet poker legislation moving out of Committee and on to the next stage.
A spokesperson for the PokerStars coalition, which includes the Morongo and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, plus three of the state’s largest card rooms, said it was a “milestone” occasion.
“Never before has an online poker bill had anything more than an informational hearing, much less been voted upon and passed out of committee,” the spokesperson said.
“The vote today underscores the momentum building to help ensure that California finally passes iPoker legislation,” the spokesperson added.
Gray’s bill is just a handful of pages long in its current form and contains no information on no specific language on eligible entities, licence fees, tax rates, and ‘bad actor’ clauses.
Known as a ‘placeholder’ bill, specific details will be added in at a later date and the battle is far from over in California, with issues over ‘bad actors’ and the role of the racetracks still to be sorted out.
Three further hearings will take place over the coming months to discuss the other online poker bills that have been tabled, plus the industry in general.