State legislature back at work, but AB2863 still not on the Assembly floor
Hopes that California Assemblyman Adam Gray's online poker legalisation bill AB2863 would make an early appearance on the Assembly floor when the legislature reconvened Monday were dashed when the day passed with no such activity.
The bill has been bogged down by disagreements principally about "bad actor" clauses, with the Pechanga-Agua Caliente tribal coalition demanding harsh conditions that would preclude most serious competitors in the market, but Assemblyman Gray has continued with his patient attempts to achieve some sort of compromise and consensus.
A Patrick McGreevy tweet late Monday evening appeared in the Los Angeles Times, advising:
"Vote on I-Poker bill postponed today. Assemblyman @AdamGrayCA aide says: "Our hope is final negotiations will wrap up very soon…"
The Desert Sun reported late Monday that Gray's bill was pulled off the Assembly floor Monday, in order to buy more time for negotiations.
Trent Hager, Gray's chief of staff, told the newspaper that his office hoped to bring the bill back up this Thursday, but time in the current season is running out if the bill is to make it through both Assembly and Senate by the end of August.
Lawmakers and their aides have made it clear that they won't approve anything until all the gambling interests can settle on a fair regulatory system.
The sticking point appears to be the bad actor clause, with Gray currently proposing that operators serving the US market post-UIGEA be required to wait five years before getting a licence, or pay a penalty of $20 million to get around this requirement.
Other sources have suggested that the Pechanga-Agua Caliente alliance has responded with a proposal that the licensing ban be increased to ten years or a $60 million fine.
Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa
