California Senate President is not in a rush to regulate online poker

The online poker bill will be discussed on August 10 and is advertised as a consumer protection package, which would give the state control over games that are already happening in a legal gray area.

US.- Although a bill aiming to regulate online poker will be discussed in the Assembly floor next week after months of consideration, Senate President Kevin De León said that he is in no hurry to approve the legalisation of Internet poker and fantasy sports sites in California.

A bill allowing fantasy sports websites missed a key deadline for approval by a policy committee, according to Dan Reeves, the chief of staff for De León. “The author pulled the bill from a hearing so technically it’s dead,” Reeves told reporters. Assemblyman Adam Gray could still revive the bill this year, Reeves noted. The online poker bill, AB 2863, sponsored by Gray, passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee in June and has been waiting for consideration by the full Assembly.

Trent Hager, a chief of staff for Gray, said in a statement that the Internet poker bill will be brought up on the Assembly floor Monday and they will continue to work to move both consumer protection pieces forward.

When asked if he wanted to put a regulatory system in place to allow fantasy sports games and online poker, De León said he was “not in a rush for anything.” Meanwhile, he said that if the Legislature is unable to come up with a deal to finance transportation needs by the end of the regular session on August 31, the matter could be taken up after that date in a special session called by the Governor.