Two bills to hedge bets for online gambling  in California will be heard in the Senate Government Organization Committee on July 12, as part of an ongoing series of informational hearings by its chair, Sen. Rod Wright.

It holds promise to be an interesting session, as Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, on Wednesday made major changes to his intrastate poker bill, SB 40.
The revised bill set no limit on the licensed companies that can sit at the virtual table, lifting its previous cap to five Web site licenses.

The licensed entity would pay a fee equal to 10 percent of the fees collected from the Internet poker players into the state controller administered Internet Gambling Fund. And Correa’s newest mock-up rewards early-bird operators: Those who apply for a license within 90 days after the bill takes effect could pay $50 million to the state against future revenues; after 90 days, the pre-pay fee rises to $250 million.

The amended SB 40 imposes harsher penalties — property and money can be seized — on top of a $10,000 fine,  if you’re caught gambling on the Internet illegally And, California tribal nations who want to get in the business of Internet poker will need a tribal gaming ordinance stamped by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Wright, D-Los Angeles, has a rival bill that was first out of the gate. SB 45 is broader in that it set no limits on operators, sites or the gambling games. Wright has said he would move only one bill forward.

No vote is expected at the hearing. With urgency clauses affixed to both bills, next week could be a pivot point.

Correa has likened the Internet legislation to a race for California’s gold. “At a time when our state is talking about new taxes to shore up our budget, we cannot afford to let Congress take one dollar of California’s revenue out of state to benefit Nevada and New Jersey,’’ he has said.

Tim Gage, a former state finance director, has said the online poker nugget will generate $1.4 billion in new revenue over 10 years and create more than 1,400 new jobs. Before federal raids on illegal offshore gambling sites, it was commonly noted that more than 1 million Californians were playing poker online each week — making the state the largest online poker market in the country.
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