Correa urges state to pass Cali law this year
Senator pushes for intrastate proposals to come into force before "dangerous" federal proposals hand advantage to Nevada.
California Senator Lou Correa has urged state politicians to pass his SB40 online poker-only bill into law by the end of this year, before “dangerous” federal proposals render it redundant, “strip it of potential jobs” and “ship” its revenue to Nevada.
Speaking yesterday before a Senate Committee on governmental organisation, which also featured separate testimonies from Sciplay CEO Rick Weil and former state finance director Tim Gage on consumer protection and revenue potential respectively, the Democratic Senator stressed the passage of the bill would allow California to generate US$250m this fiscal year [and] help “avoid the triggers that will result in deeper cuts to education and other public services.”
Correa also called upon Jim Wise, a federal advocate and congressional expert, who told the committee he believed the possibility of federal regulation was “Quite high, due to attractive potential revenues and minimal political opposition.”
Wise warned that the Nevada bill would position the state as the “national gatekeeper for national legislation,” acknowledging the potential for progress on a federal level to play into the hands of the Silver State, as well asthe District of Columbia “ where intrastate egaming legislation was passed in April.
Last week Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the powerful US land-based casino-backed body the American Gaming Association (AGA), told an audience in Madrid that the organisation would not support an existing federal proposal sponsored by Congressman Joe Barton and instead push new legislation in the autumn which would favour Nevada and New Jersey as licensing and regulatory authorities in a future US egaming market.
“Taxes would be divided between the state where the bettor is, with the state where the regulator is,” Fahrenkopf said. “The federal government would only receive the income tax on winnings,” he added.
Last week also saw a number of amendments made to the bill, in a move described yesterday as “Borrowing from [competing California bill] SB45,” however SB40 remains poker-only and places significant emphasis on player protection.
Sciplay’s CEO Weil, whose company was chosen for a potential intrastate poker platform or network by SB40 backers the California Online Poker Association (COPA), detailed this aspect of the legislation, something made more important by the closure of Full Tilt Poker to US customers leaving an approximate US$150m of US player funds in jeopardy.
Weil’s main points concerned age verification and geo-location, as well as measures to protect against problem gambling through projected self-imposed loss-limits.
“SB40 requires the implementation of age verification elements…registrants need to provide key identification information which must be verified “ in our world this is a legal mandate.
“We can also set player limits to control compulsive gambling,” said Weil, who also discussed the need for measures to protect against fraud and theft. “There is nothing more important than integrity and player trust,” he explained.
From a financial perspective, Gage suggested that the passage of SB40 could help California generate more than US$1.4bn over a 10-year period, as well as generating an extra 1,300 jobs in the state.
He did admit, however, that there were several factors which could affect the financial impact of the bill, such as “What time of year the bill is passed, and how long the industry takes to formulate a marketing effort for [online poker].”