California Looks to legalize internet poker
Reporting from Sacramento—
When state lawmakers convene again Jan. 4, their plates will be filled with leftovers.
Their agenda is expected to be dominated by issues that have been unresolved in the last few years: state budget problems, pension reform, a new water supply system and legalizing poker on the Internet.
But lawmakers face a huge distraction: The 2012 elections will be the first since their districts were redrawn to make them more competitive. Many officeholders face an uncertain political future.
The backdrop for those anxieties is the state's persistently grim financial situation. The deficit is expected to be nearly $13 billion for the new fiscal year that starts July 1.
"That is the big issue of the year, how we continue to grapple with the economic crisis," said Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).
So officials are revisiting earlier ideas for raising money — besides increasing taxes, which Gov.
Jerry Brown hopes voters will do on the November ballot.
One revenue-spinner could be Internet gambling. Lawmakers held hearings in 2011 on a proposal that the state sanction certain websites for poker and other gambling, with a cut of the action going to the treasury. The matter was postponed until this year amid opposition from some Indian tribes that see such games as competition for their brick-and-mortar casinos.
Now,
Senate President Pro Tem
Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) has brought the two sides together in hopes of forging a compromise that lawmakers will pass, according to Mark Hedlund, a spokesman for the leader. Steinberg wants to regulate cyber-gambling "while providing revenue — hopefully hundreds of millions of dollars — to help us reinvest in public schools, higher education and public safety," Hedlund said.