Last week, we reported that AB 2863 would receive a hearing on April 20 despite the fact that it wasn't on the agenda.
The Assembly Go Committee updated its calendar and that hearing is now scheduled for April 27.
However, AB 2863 did receive a few amendments and those changes were revealed on Wednesday. One of those amendments may well be in response to the charges filed against Amaya CEO David Baazov.
AB 2863 Amendments Could Reignite Bad Actor Debate
Regardless of the issue, most bills will be amended multiple times before being passed into law. The changes to AB 2863 were revealed yesterday and two will greatly impact the bill.
The first simply removed the requirement that the bill go through the Appropriations Committee for approval. This means that once it passes the Governmental Organization Committee, it will go straight to the Fiscal Committee.
The other key changes of note include a pair of statements regarding internet betting prior to the passage of this bill. The first is located in the first section explaining the bill's purpose.
The bill would become operative when criteria are established by statute addressing involvement in Internet betting prior to the state’s authorization of Internet poker pursuant to its provisions.
The other is located in 19990.405 (C) discussing the suitability of licensees:
The act that added this subparagraph shall not become operative until criteria are established by statute to address involvement in Internet betting prior to the state’s authorization of Internet poker pursuant to this chapter.
This language, while not an outright bad actor clause, does at least reopen the debate on bad actors.
Under these amendments, regulators will have to establish criteria to address bad actors that violated UIGEA and that includes PokerStars.
Steve Ruddock of OnlinePokerReport pointed out that these clauses may have been added to satisfy a request made by the Pechanga coalition back in February.
They stated, "if impartial language is inserted into the bill when introduced, we commit to engaging in good-faith negotiations with you on Suitability Standards for Prospective Applicants to resolve this outstanding issue before the bill is brought to the Assembly Floor for a vote."
New Language Could Change Vote Outcome
Prior to the release of this amended bill, we predicted that AB 2863 would not pass out of the GO Committee due to the charges against Amaya CEO David Baazov.
However, with the new additions added, there is a chance that the bill may pass out of committee and move forward.
This new language gives lawmakers an easy path to creating a solid bad actor clause to ban PokerStars or any company if they feel the need.
Nevertheless, these clauses could also be viewed as a positive step forward for this bill. If this helps to satisfy concerns by the Pechanga Coalition over bad actors, it may allow a bill to actually move forward to a floor vote with minimal tribal opposition.
The next couple of weeks should give us a better idea of whether there will be any real movement on this bill in 2016 or if we will be back here next year discussing the latest and greatest attempt to regulate online poker in California.