Another bill that could potentially lead to the legalisation of online poker activities in California has been submitted in the US state.
Put forward by Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, the Internet Poker Consumer Protection Act of 2015 becomes the second online poker bill to be considered during California’s 2015 legislative session.
Assemblyman Mike Gatto last month put forward his own online poker bill in the form of the AB 9 legislation.
Gatto has also since proposed a number of amendments to the bill to help boost its chances of being passed by state lawmakers.
Under the new bill (AB 167) introduced by Jones-Sawyer, licensed operators would run player verification similar to other licensed locales while all players must be located in California and be at least 21 years of age.
The bill also sets out plans for renewable four-year licensing terms with a $10 million (€8.9 million) fee.
Meanwhile, the state would collect approximately 8.5% of gross gaming revenue from operators.
The bill has also been tagged as an Emergency Statute, which requires a two-thirds majority in the legislature to pass, after which state regulators would have 270 days to draw up regulations.
Despite featuring these various requirements, the latest bill does not contain a so-called ‘bad actor’ clause, unlike the bill put forward last month.
This would leave the task of determining the suitability of operators to offer online poker in California in the hands of the state’s own regulatory body.
Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware remain the only three states in the US to have legalised some form of online gambling, despite a number of others having been linked to some form of regulation in recent times.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com