California poker bill introduced next year, promises new PVA chief
A bill to enable intrastate online poker in California is on track to be introduced into the California legislature early next year despite the failure of a draft bill to find a sponsor last month, Poker Voters of America has said
A BILL TO ENABLE intrastate online poker in California is on track to be introduced into the California legislature early next year despite the failure of a draft bill to find a sponsor last month, Poker Voters of America has said.
The Morongo native American tribe’s attempt to expedite a draft bill to create a centralised online poker website for California players through the legislature by the end of the legislative year stalled following opposition from other gaming tribes.
However newly appointed PVA president Melanie Brenner said the Morongo proposal had been a “huge step” in getting tribes on board with a concept they had previously stonewalled and that a framework document presented by the PVA to the governor’s office and legislative leadership this month addressed key concerns among potential stakeholders that had stalled the Morongo draft bill.
Brenner said: “Aspects of the Morongo model were not really thought through, such as how much money it would bring to the state as well as stakeholders, how that money would be distributed, and how and by whom the system would be managed. The PVA framework has been presented to show there are viable alternatives to the Morongo proposal.”
The poker lobby group will also present a detailed financial study of intrastate poker in California and Florida from gambling data business H2 Gambling Capital to the governments of those states later this month.
“It is critical to our strategy that individual states can recognise how much intrastate online poker is going to bring to governments in desperate need of revenue and also potential stakeholders. In California, helping stakeholders recognise how much income they could realise should help us carry the load of passing the legislation,” Brenner added.
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