{"id":285151,"date":"2023-08-14T15:04:53","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T20:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=285151"},"modified":"2023-08-15T09:49:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T14:49:10","slug":"california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"California Legislature to Become a Battleground for Tribes and Cardrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>California\u2019s state legislature reconvenes Monday, and lawmakers are faced with a long-simmering dispute.<\/p>\r\n<figure id=\"attachment_222564\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-222564\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-222564 size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop-858x572.jpg\" alt=\"Hawaiian Gardens\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop-858x572.jpg 858w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop-430x287.jpg 430w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop-302x200.jpg 302w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop-238x158.jpg 238w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop-194x128.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-222564\"class=\"text-description\">The Hawaiian Gardens cardroom in LA is currently fighting against Prop. 26, which like the previously defeated California Senate Bill 549, would limit the types of games it can offer to patrons. (Image: City of Hawaiian Gardens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<p>The feud between Native American casinos and California cardrooms is back before the state, and both sides have deep pockets and even deeper hostilities.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>A bill that would allow tribes to file civil actions against the cardrooms is expected to come up, and if you think you&#8217;ve heard this before, you&#8217;re correct.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Senate Bill 549 would allow tribes a three-month window in 2024 to take legal action against their rivals. That potential action was actually voted down by the public last year when it was on the ballot as Prop. 26.<\/p>\r\n<p>When SB 549 passed the Senate earlier this year as an education measure, the bill\u2019s author, Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) substituted language from Prop. 26, bringing the battle between tribes and poker parlors back.<\/p>\r\n<p>Casino-owning tribes say poker parlors, or cardrooms, as they&#8217;re otherwise known, have expanded into tribal territory with games such as blackjack.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"callout\">\r\n<p>Proposition 26, had it not been defeated, would have allowed the state attorney general to crack down on gambling law violations. But if the AG didn&#8217;t act, tribal casinos could file a civil action as a private party. Cardroom operators say that would have put them out of business.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>The economic impact of California\u2019s cardroom industry is estimated at more than $6 billion, and supports tens of thousands of jobs, according to the California Gaming Association trade group.<\/p>\r\n<p>Big dollars are funding the war, as tribes are a major interest group with large coffers of political cash. They are pitted against what looks like a smaller cardroom in a tiny city called Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County. That venue has already committed more than $5 million dollars to defeat SB 549<\/p>\r\n<h2>San Jose Officials Taking Action<\/h2>\r\n<p>Meanwhile, officials in San Jose say they won&#8217;t fold and will strongly oppose Senate Bill 549. According to city officials, allowing tribes to sue cardrooms over games offered would choke off cities from tax money and essentially outlaw the function of poker parlors.<\/p>\r\n<p>It could \u201celiminate thousands of cardroom jobs and millions of dollars in municipal revenue in dozens of California cities,\u201d wrote Sarah Zarate, the city\u2019s policy and government relations director, in a June letter.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>The California Gaming Association says San Jose\u2019s two cardrooms employ more than 2,000 people.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Cardrooms can&#8217;t offer slot machines, while tribal casinos can. Cardrooms comply with gambling laws by letting players bet against other players, or against a third party where no \u201chouse\u201d money is involved.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"callout\">\r\n<p>Tribes argue that allowing bets on player-dealer card games lets cardrooms get around California\u2019s constitutionally enshrined monopoly on legal gambling. Tribes don\u2019t have the standing to challenge the legality of cardrooms in court under current law.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>Sen. Newman says his bill wouldn\u2019t predetermine the outcome of lawsuits, if allowed. It would simply ask the courts \u201cto resolve the longstanding dispute over whether certain controlled games operated by California card clubs are illegal banking card games and whether they infringe upon tribal gaming rights.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<h2>California\u2019s Governor in the Spotlight<\/h2>\r\n<p>Back in May, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation that established a moratorium on the state issuing new cardroom licenses for 20 years. The bill essentially restarts a moratorium that was first established by the Gambling Control Act of 1997.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>The GCA prevented new cardrooms from opening and existing ones from expanding, and had expired on January 1 of this year.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Gov. Newsom is also in the spotlight and at the center of a debate over whether he is running for president. He hasn&#8217;t announced a presidential bid at this time.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"callout\">\r\n<p>Speaking of debates, Newsom&#8217;s heated rivalry with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) would be on display if a debate between the two governors goes forward. DeSantis is running for president on the Republican ticket.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>The Newsom vs DeSantis debate is tentatively planned for November, to be hosted by <em>Fox News\u2019<\/em> Sean Hannity. The two sides are at odds over the inclusion of a studio audience and are currently locked in a stalemate over the details.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California\u2019s state legislature reconvenes Monday, and lawmakers are faced with a long-simmering dispute. The feud between Native American casinos and California cardrooms is back before the state, and both sides have deep pockets and even deeper hostilities. A bill that would allow tribes to file civil actions against the cardrooms is expected to come up, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":222564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,33810,13,86433],"tags":[81905,86449,81943,87141],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>California Legislature to Become a Battleground for Tribes and Cardrooms - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"California\u2019s state legislature reconvenes Monday, and lawmakers are faced with a long-simmering dispute. The feud between Native American casinos and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California Legislature to Become a Battleground for Tribes and Cardrooms - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"California\u2019s state legislature reconvenes Monday, and lawmakers are faced with a long-simmering dispute. The feud between Native American casinos and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-14T20:04:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-15T14:49:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Craig Boswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Craig Boswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/\",\"name\":\"California Legislature to Become a Battleground for Tribes and Cardrooms - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-legislature-to-become-a-battleground-for-tribes-and-cardrooms\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Hawaiian_Gardens_crop.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-14T20:04:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-15T14:49:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e6078962c48aceb0701d2ca8bea14256\"},\"description\":\"California\u2019s state legislature reconvenes Monday, and lawmakers are faced with a long-simmering dispute. 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On Thursday, AFSCME District Council 36 came out in opposition to a tribal-backed sports betting measure on the Nov. 8 California ballot, citing concerns that tribal entities could use another provision in the measure to close cardrooms. 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He joined Casino.org News in 2023. Craig brings more than 25 years of Journalistic experience to the organization including more than a decade as a National News Correspondent for a trio of networks. Based out of Washington, DC he has covered the White House, Congress and breaking news around the world. Craig describes his work as \u201ca front seat to life\u201d and expects that philosophy to continue as the gaming industry grows and evolves. Craig grew up in the South and admits he can still occasionally put 14 syllables in a word, fortunately that is only when speaking and not when he is writing. 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On Thursday, AFSCME District Council 36 came out in opposition to a tribal-backed sports betting measure on the Nov. 8 California ballot, citing concerns that tribal entities could use another provision in the measure to close cardrooms. 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