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Is this causing our pps to sink?

POKER bill Tribal group comes out "opposed unless amended"
By PE Politics on April 26, 2012 5:12 PM
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A prominent group of California tribes with casinos has announced its opposition to the current version of state Senate legislation that would legalize online poker.

In a letter Wednesday, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations said that it is "strongly opposed" to SB 1463 as written because of the measure's "fundamental disregard for the unique government-to-government relationship between the State and California's tribal governments."

TASIN includes several tribes with successful casinos in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. One Two of its members, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernardino, is a member of the tribe-card club California Online Poker Association [UPDATE: The Morongo tribe has not been a TASIN member for six months, a spokesman said.]

State Sen. Rod Wright, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, are the authors of the poker bill. Supporters say legalization would generate as much as $200 million for the general fund while protecting players from illegal offshore games.

The bill, introduced in February, awaits its first committee hearing.

The objections in this week's TASIN letter have been heard before in the years-long debate over online poker.

TASIN describes SB 1463's "blanket waiver of tribal sovereign immunity" as unacceptable. It also wants the bill to limit online poker licenses to only those entities already authorized to offer poker games in their bricks-and-mortar facilities.

The bill's allowing games besides poker after two years also "is not acceptable," the letter reads.

In other gaming developments, a Senate committee this week unanimously approved legislation that would legalize sports betting in the state.

The measure would have no immediate effect because federal law outlaws sports betting in all but four states. But supporters say California's legislation, if approved, would bolster efforts to change the federal law.