BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2193
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Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2193 (Hall) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 21 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill extends a moratorium on the issuance of new gambling
licenses for card rooms from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2020.
FISCAL EFFECT
As this bill prohibits the expansion of existing card rooms and
the issuance of licenses for new card rooms, it results in
forgone revenues for the Gambling Control Fund from 2014-15
through 2019-20. The amount of forgone revenue is unknown, but
could be in the millions of dollars annually. A portion of that
revenue would likely be offset by additional workload costs.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to supporters of this legislation, the
existing moratorium that is not set to expire for another five
years needs to be extended at this point for an additional
five years because communities that benefit from card room
revenues currently are unwilling to commit to long term
building projects unless they can be assured that the revenue
will continue to be available for at least another 10 years.
Supporters contend that doing away with the moratorium and
allowing additional card rooms to open would dilute the
revenue within existing communities.
2)Gambling in California . The Gambling Control Act of 1998 (GCA)
was established to provide a comprehensive scheme for
statewide regulation of legal gambling. Among other things,
GCA provided that no new gambling establishment may be opened
in a city, county, or city and county, in which a gambling
AB 2193
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establishment was not operating on and before January 1, 1984,
except upon the affirmative vote of the electors of that local
jurisdiction. Local jurisdictions may adopt a gambling
ordinance governing items such as the hours of operation of
gambling at those premises, patron security, location of
premises, wagering limits and the number of tables permitted
in those premises and in the jurisdiction as a whole.
3)California Card Clubs . There are currently two statutory
moratoriums that restrict the growth of card clubs in
California. One moratorium prohibits the state from issuing
licenses for new gambling establishments. The other limits
the amount that controlled gambling can expand in local
jurisdictions to no more than 24.99% compared to the amount
that was authorized on January 1, 1999. Most local
jurisdictions have modified their gambling ordinances to
realize the maximum amount of growth authorized by law. There
are currently 91 licensed card clubs in the state.
The California Constitution prohibits house-banked games in
gambling establishments in California, except in Indian
casinos on Indian lands. As such, players in California card
clubs do not wager bets against the gambling establishment
(the house), rather placing wagers against other players.
Gambling establishments are authorized to assess player fees
based on the amount of each patron's wager.
4)Related legislation . In 2009, SB 213 (Florez), a
substantially similar bill was vetoed by the governor. In his
veto message he stated, "There is no compelling rationale for
extending the gambling moratorium at this time, as a similar
extension was approved just three years ago. The gambling
moratorium under existing law does not expire until 2015,
which gives the Legislature ample time to evaluate whether the
existing moratorium should be extended."
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081