Update: CNIGA Supports Correia's Proposal for Online Poker Legalization in California

Mar 01, 2011
Two thirds of Californians support introduction of online poker The California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), a major tribal organization whose members include over two dozen casino and non-casino tribes, announced it will support the proposal for legalization of online poker presented by the California state senator Lou Correia, the Fresno Bee reports. After this development, the bill proposed by the Senator Rod Wrights's SB45 relying on different model for legalizing online poker has been left even farther behind the Correia's SB40 in the ongoing race for intrastate legalization of internet poker. According to Jerome Encinas, manager of government affairs, CNIGA opted for Senate Bill 40 as preferable to the competing proposal on the grounds that Correia's draft is specific to online poker and demands that the operators applying for a license are existing California businesses or tribes. As per SB 40, all federally recognized California tribal governments and card room clubs would be eligible to seek a license to operate online poker. "We had some tribes that were concerned, but at the end of the day it passed," Encinas said commenting on the report which showed that the vote for SB40 was not unanimous. Going forward, an informational hearing on the subject has been added to the agenda of the state's Senate Governmental Organization Committee. Apart from CNIGA, Correia's bill has been backed also by the California Online Poker Association (COPA), a body representing Californian tribal casinos and card room operators. COPA has already issued an economic impact study showing that the online poker legalization would generate $1 billion in state revenues over the next decade and open 1,100 new jobs. Quoting results of the statewide survey carried out by Tulchin Research, COPA claims that around two thirds (66 percent) of Californians support introduction of online poker to help recovery of the troubled state budget. In addition, 84 percent prefer a state-regulated online poker system as it would retain jobs and income in California, as opposed to the federal system which would bring benefits to Washington D.C., other states or offshore. According to experts' estimates, the U.S. citizens annually place billions in bets on internet sites operated offshore or outside the nation's boundaries. Legalization of online poker could regulate the games to ensure their honesty and California could financially benefit, Correia concluded.
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