February 22nd was the very last day available for the current legislative session in California and Senator Lou Correa was just in time to propose a new bill for the state. The new piece of legislation is titled SB 678 which is the Authorization and Regulation of Internet Poker and Consumer Protection Act of 2013. Correa is hoping that intrastate poker will be regulated with this bill and the Gambling Control Commission of California will provide the framework of the online gambling option.
With the release of this new bill, the state of California will now have two bills for online poker on the table. The first was created by Senator Roderick Wright and is titled SB 51. This bill was introduced in late 2012 and would allow licensing for racetracks as well as advance deposit wagering firms. However, according to PokerNewsReport, the SB 678 bill is a bit different.
Harsh P. Parikh of Snell & Wilmer, LLP, a California gaming attorney, spoke with the news source and stated that the SB 678 is ‘a spot bill with some tribal support that will be heavily amended and will likely include card clubs, but not horse racing interests.”
This is not the first time that Correa has proposed a bill for online poker in the state of California. The senator supplied a bill back in 2011, which was amended but never gained the support it needed to pass. The SB 678 bill is a simple option that will offer online poker in the state and only in the state. The new bill only covers the bare minimum so if the bill is passed, the state would still have much work to do before players could begin enjoying online poker.
The California Gambling Control Commission would have to begin the regulation framework to begin licensing online poker sites and this can take time. We will continue to cover this story and report more information as it is made available.
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