California Legislators Continue to Grapple with Gambling Options

California lawmakers will mull several state bills that could affect both land and online gambling efforts this year (Image: Michael Macor, The Chronicle)
A new California gambling bill approved week that is last the State Senate could up taxes and review regulatory procedures on the Golden State’s ever-expanding gaming industry. Introduced by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), SB 601 goes under the microscope of a gaming policy advisory committee comprised of both industry executives and members of the public, with all the goal of determining perhaps the existing regulatory structures that are in place are aiding or abetting California’s current and future financial outlook.
Regulatory Review
Also, the panel will review the impact of the state’s numerous card clubs on both state and tax that is local, aswell as on fees to both. Yee stated he’s checking out the possibility that more gaming that is non-Indian may help boost California’s ever-struggling coffers to be fuller.
‘Despite the good news we’ve seen in budget projections, I do believe it certainly is worth looking at new revenue sources for our state,’ noted Yee. Once the committee review is complete, the new bill will move on to the state Assembly for further assessment.
Needless to say, as Newton so wisely noted, for each and every action there’s a similar and equal response, and nowhere does that hold truer than in the world of gambling legislation. No sooner ended up being SB 601 brought to light than the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion (CCAGE) popped up, declaring that the bill that is new nothing more but a gateway drug for loosening regulatory procedures for operators.
‘SB 601 should be amended to need a look that is balanced the legal guidelines regulating gambling, including perhaps not only their impeding impact on the industry, nevertheless the social and economic expenses inevitably related to gambling expansion among California families and communities — e.g., increased debts, foreclosures and bankruptcies, divorces, suicides, etc.,’ said CCAGE in a letter to legislators concerning the bill.
Many Viewpoints, Little Agreement
Of program, California has a myriad of factions and viewpoints in terms of gambling, so SB 601 is hardly the only legislation on the table in this arena now. Additionally under review are SB 678 introduced by Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) also referred to as the ‘Authorization and Regulation of online Poker and Consumer Protection Act of 2013,’ a bill targeted at legalizing on-line poker only, which has the support of eight Indian tribes.
Then there is SB 51 the ‘Web Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act of 2013’ introduced by Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood). Of course, having been found guilty on eight counts of perjury and voter fraud final week, Wright may have more to worry about than gambling legislation right now.
With 38 million residents to draw from, Ca holds by far the most promise of any U.S. state in order to make big bucks from on the web gambling. In reality, a study that is recent jointly by industry research firm PokerScout along with consulting company Academicon revealed the Golden State has a $263 million revenue potential for its first year of iGaming, should it opt to legalize it, and a $384 million possibility for year 10. That being said, other states such as Delaware have turned out to be pretty far off in their projections that are initial far, but with California’s huge population base, there is way more potential for hitting the mark or near to it in these projections.
Steve Wynn Joins Sheldon Adelson in Anti-Online Gambling Stance
Who woulda thunk it? Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn are actually aligned in their anti-online gambling viewpoints (Image: msn.com)
They state politics makes for strange bedfellows, and also the same could be said for the casino industry. Of course, the lines between politics and gambling industry policy that is regulatory get pretty blurry, and sometimes it’s hard to discern one from one other, and such is the case because of the new professional romance between longtime anti-online gambling crusader Sheldon Adelson, and his new bestie and ally, Steve Wynn.
Macau Is The Relationship
Possibly their mutual success in Macau has created a new bond for the 2 casino magnates; whatever it is, Adelson and Wynn certainly two associated with the most established visionaries in the gambling industry have additionally become aligned in an area where Adelson has found few company compadres to join him: his vehement fight against what he claims are the inherent evils of on the web gambling in America.
Steve Wynn now says he concurs using the Las vegas, nevada Sands CEO that Internet video gaming will be the apocalypse for underage morality in the U.S. if it gets a unilateral federal pass.
‘I end up agreeing with Sheldon,’ said Wynn recently.
This will be a serious turnaround from the Steve Wynn who once predicted that Sheldon Adelson would eventually heat up to the concept of online video gaming. Au contraire; it seems it comes to the Internet’s potentially corrupting influence via online gambling that it is Wynn who has now seen ‘the light’ when.
Visions of Underage Online Gamblers
Wynn now relates to your federal government’s ‘insatiable appetite for revenue,’ and foresees we are not sure why exactly the risk of underage gamblers by the truckload sneaking through the regulatory checkpoints and this creating some sort of American backlash towards gambling as a whole. Given that there have actually certainly been incidents of underage gamblers engaging in land casinos beneath the radar at various points in time and the casinos usually get caught and fined us; but that’s Wynn’s story and he’s sticking to it for it without Joel Osteen creating a Sunday pulpit commentary on the topic or pickets going up on the Las Vegas Strip this seems a bit dramatic to.
‘This is not a good opportunity that is entrepreneurial’ keeps Wynn. ‘ Where is the continuing business opportunity? The problem that is big see is I don’t see the federal government letting us keep the money.’
Again, we are not sure what proof he has that 13-year-olds by the boatloads will be crashing online gaming web sites, but this generally seems to be Wynn’s primary concern and focus. He states that after viewing the latest technological software at sites run by UltimateGaming et al to theoretically block underage players, he is not convinced they are sophisticated sufficient to keep kids a bay. Despite the IT teams telling him the sites are going to be inaccessible to kids, Wynn’s response was, ‘I’m sure it was impressive if you were a guy that is cyber. But it ended up being bullsh—.’
Wynn now seems to be on board with Adelson’s contention that young teenagers will learn how to get online and gamble away all their own or their moms and dads’ savings. We’re not indian dreaming online pokies sure how sophisticated your combo of con and high-tech penetration skills would have become to pull that off; and while it is no doubt a potential situation, so has been hit by a car when we drive, but that does not keep us from getting behind the wheel every time. Establishing policy according to worst-case scenarios seems like a tactic that is odd us, but exactly what do we know; we’re not billionaires with effective land casinos within the U.S. and Macau, are we?
As for Wynn, it’s really a definite maybe in their viewpoints with this for the present time, anyway. And besides his concerns about underage issues, he’s perhaps not sure he would like to you will need to transfer their upscale casino image up to a computer screen, if not how that might be doable.
‘ I do not discover how to accomplish that on a screen that is 17-inch’ he stated.
‘It’s possible it might change,’ Wynn included, regarding his views on Internet gambling. But he doesn’t think anyone’s opinion will change Congress’s deer-in-headlight stance on Internet gambling, regardless.
‘[Legal gambling passage] can’t cope with the home of Representatives,’ he stated. ‘They can’t agree with anything, especially one thing this esoteric.’
2014 Florida session that is legislative Away from Gambling Expansion
Though it seemed hopeful final year, the 2014 Florida legislative session now appears to be shying away from any focus on gambling.
Within the last year, there’s been plenty of talk about changing the gambling legislation that dictate how gaming is run in Florida. There has been telephone calls to grow the state’s casino offerings, along with lots of support for reforming the regulations that are current remove loopholes and clarify precisely what is legal for operators to supply. But despite every one of the crucial dilemmas on the table as well as though the entire year is in its incipiency it appears that chances of any gambling laws passing in Florida in 2014 are getting longer every day.
Republican Retreat
That news uses Republican legislative leaders had pledged to really make the problem a priority later last year. Gambling ended up being on a list of legislative priorities that lawmakers presented to reporters before the current session began, but whom now say it’s unlikely anything will take place before some big steps occur.
House Speaker Will Weatherford said that his chamber would not work with no legislation to arrive concert having a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to consider in on any possible gambling expansion.
‘I don’t think you’ll see us taking up gaming in the House,’ the Speaker said unless we can do that. For Weatherford, that statement covered ‘anything new,’ presumably including changes that are regulatory along by the addition of new casinos.
Lawsuits Add to Delays
The prospect of legislation may have been hampered by the nearly two dozen lawsuits currently facing the continuing state after studies and hearings were held to examine hawaii’s video gaming laws.
Those lawsuits cover a variety of issues, including regulations on horse and dog race where battles over how races are conducted and whether tracks can host slots along with other casino games have already been raging for many time now.
‘There’s regulations. There’s dogs. There’s integrated resorts. There is taxes. There’s slots. There is the compact. There’s decoupling. There is injury reporting. They don’t snap together that easily,’ said Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter if you take all those pieces of the puzzle.
That compact could fundamentally prove to be the biggest problem regarding the table. Florida’s compact with the Seminole Tribe expires in 2015, and that deadline will sooner or later make gaming come up on the legislative agenda whether lawmakers are ready because of it or perhaps not. The compact allows the Seminole Tribe to have exclusive rights to banked card games like blackjack throughout the state in exchange for $1 billion in payments from the tribe over the course of five years at the moment. Renewing or proposing modifications to that particular lightweight will be a issue that is contentious especially if Florida thinks it make more by removing the exclusivity and allowing non-Indian casino developers to build within the state.
‘Gaming can be an problem that is forced to your state either this year or year that is next the Seminole compact is up for some renegotiation and whenever you do that you kind of touch the dominos that produce anything else affected,’ stated Senate President Don Gaetz. ‘ I don’t genuinely believe that expansion of gaming or gaming legislation could be a Will Weatherford or perhaps a Don Gaetz concern.
‘It’s maybe not something we necessarily want to be involved in,’ Gaetz said, ‘but it’s something that circumstances probably need either us or our successors to do something positive about.’