New California online poker bill introduced

California Senator Lou Correa has introduced online poker legislation in the state legislature, meaning there are now two egaming bills currently under consideration.

Correa filed a placeholder bill SB 678 on Friday in order to beat the deadline for submitting legislation for the current session, while Senator Rod Wright reintroduced his bill in December last year. Neither bill has a date scheduled for a committee hearing.

As a placeholder bill, Correa’s legislation is short on details, however additional language will be introduced once it reaches committee stage. As it stands, the 77-word long document outlines the intention to authorise the California Gambling Control Commission to issue licences to operators and to regulate online poker within the state.

Correa’s previous legislation in 2011 was accused of favouring the now disbanded California Online Poker Association (COPA) and initially limited the number of eligible licence applicants to five. The licence fee was set at US$50m each.

Earlier last year Wright removed his original legislation from a Senate committee agenda due to a reported lack of support, yet the bill he introduced in December last year retains its main clauses.

Wright’s bill has been criticised by a number of native American tribes for its inclusion of advance deposit wagering (ADW) firms as eligible online poker licensees despite their current lack of involvement in the vertical.

The legislation also retains the contested requirement that tribes waive their sovereignty during suitability checks as part of the licensing process.