No Budget Cuts for Online Poker in California
After the US state rejected an $11bn tranche of cuts designed to ease its projected $25bn budget crisis, online poker in California has come another step closer.
The legalization of intrastate poker in California as a source of tax revenue, which is a framework bill being presented to stakeholders this week is supported by the rejection.
The bill could be worth US$250m a year in tax revenues to the state according to H2, the gambling data specialists.
“Legislators need to approve cuts by the end of this week or I would have to start issuing IOUs,†said John Chiang, California state controller.
Chiang further included, “The state’s inability to balance its cheque book will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses.â€
Bill Lockyer, the State treasurer is also planning to tap a reserve fund to meet debt service costs.
The view of the Poker Voters of America’s chief lobbyist Chris Gallardo gains credibility by the rejection of the cuts. He said the bill to legalize intrastate poker in California will be a “smooth sail†once stakeholders feedback on the proposal.
This week, Gallardo, the lead lobbyist for the grassroots lobbying group’s push in California informed that he thought online poker could help ease the pain to the governor and other state politicians by making cutbacks to essential programs.
Gallardo said America’s most populous state could be collecting tax revenues from online poker from as early as January 2010, with the California government able to file for temporary regulatory structures to push urgent initiatives through.
Adding further, he said, “When I worked in the California legislature, I saw bills drafted and passed in hours, because those issues were a priority for the state.â€
GTech’s newly rebranded e-gaming arm G2 said it is confident of regulatory clearance while California-based CyberArts recently threw down the gauntlet to rival GTech ahead of the legal online poker.
Tags: Legal, Online Poker, UIGEA
