BILL ANALYSIS
SB 213
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 213 (Florez) - As Amended: June 18, 2009
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 18 - 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.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to supporters of this legislation, the
existing moratorium that is not set to expire for another 5
years needs to be extended at this point for an additional 5
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
SB 213
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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 the play of 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)Opposition . In opposition, Sutter's Place Inc., doing business
as Bay 101 Casino, says that by "extending the moratorium an
additional five years, from 2015 to 2020, this bill would
prohibit any additional growth of existing card rooms."
Sutter's Place Inc. also maintains that if they did not have
the "ability to grow over the next eleven years, normal
overhead costs would increase to a point where many small and
mid-size card rooms would be forced out of business."
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081