BILL NUMBER: SB 289	CHAPTERED  10/05/07

	CHAPTER  294
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 5, 2007
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 5, 2007
	PASSED THE SENATE  MAY 7, 2007
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 30, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Vincent

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2007

   An act to add Section 19858.5 to the Business and Professions
Code, relating to gaming, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 289, Vincent. Gambling Control Act: licenses.
   The Gambling Control Act provides for the licensure and regulation
of various legalized gambling activities and establishments by the
California Gambling Control Commission, and for the investigation and
enforcement of those activities and establishments by the Division
of Gambling Control within the Department of Justice. Under that act,
a person is deemed unsuitable to hold a state gambling license if
that person, or any partner, officer, director, or shareholder of
that person, has a financial interest in a business or organization
engaged in any form of prohibited gambling, as specified.
   This bill would revise that provision by authorizing the
commission to deem an applicant or licensee suitable to hold a state
gambling license even if the applicant or licensee has a financial
interest in another business conducting lawful gambling outside of
California that, if conducted within the state, would violate
California law, unless the applicant or licensee owns more than a 1%
interest in, or has control of, that business.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  It is the intent of the Legislature to permit an
applicant for, or a holder of, a state gambling license to have a
financial interest in another lawful gambling business inside or
outside California, provided that if that applicant's or licensee's
financial interest is in a business that directly or indirectly owns
or operates a gambling business outside California, that applicant or
licensee does not own or control, either directly or indirectly,
more than 1 percent of the outstanding shares in that business, or in
any way control that business. It is not the intent of the
Legislature to change the prohibitions in existing law that preclude
a publicly traded corporation from owning an interest in a gambling
establishment, except as currently provided for in Section 19852 or
19858 of the Business and Professions Code.
  SEC. 2.  Section 19858.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   19858.5.  Notwithstanding Section 19858, the commission may,
pursuant to this chapter, deem an applicant or licensee suitable to
hold a state gambling license even if the applicant or licensee has a
financial interest in another business that conducts lawful gambling
outside the state that, if conducted within California, would be
unlawful, provided that an applicant or licensee may not own, either
directly or indirectly, more than a 1 percent interest in, or have
control of, that business.
  SEC. 3.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to prevent, at the earliest possible time, individuals
and businesses with minimal out-of-state gambling investments from
being disqualified from holding gambling licenses in California, it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.