The odds on California legalizing online poker in 2014 got a lot longer on Wednesday after one of the two competing poker bills was dropped by its sponsor. State Sen. Lou Correa (pictured) (re)introduced his SB 1366 legislation back in February, but with no committee apparently willing to grab the ball and run with it, Correa announced he was taking his ball/bill and going home. The Los Angeles Times quoted Correa saying online poker was “an important public policy” and there just wasn’t enough time for legislators to “make sure it’s done right.”
Correa’s exit from the stage puts the onus squarely on Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, who filed hits own AB 2291 legislation in February. In April, the state held a hearing to allow stakeholders to express their various concerns but there’s been no discernible legislative activity in months.
The main obstacles to legislative success remain the schism between the Indian tribal groups that want a bill that explicitly bans ‘bad actors’ aka PokerStars from entering the market and those who don’t. There’s also the issue of whether the state’s racetracks will be allowed to join tribal casinos and state-licensed cardrooms in offering online poker. The tribes are firmly opposed to letting the tracks add poker to their advance deposit wagering sites but the tracks have serious legislative allies that could cock-block any attempts to leave the tracks on the outside looking in.
California’s current legislative session comes to a close on Aug. 31, but the state Assembly would need to make the necessary amendments to Jones-Sawyer’s bill by Aug. 22. Even assuming such deus ex machina wonders transpire over the next couple weeks, both legislative bodies would have to approve the legislation by two-thirds majorities. Only after all that would Gov. Jerry Brown be given until Sept. 30 in which to affix his signature. To sum up: not technically impossible, but not very probable.
