By Paulick Report
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Feb. 16, 2016) — California assemblyman Adam Gray has filed a bill that is offering racetracks in the state an annual payment of $60 million in exchange for giving up the opportunity to be a part of the proposed online poker market. He has begun to flesh out the bill, AB 431, according to calvinayre.com, detailing a 15 percent tax rate and $15 million upfront deposit for poker licenses.
Over 95 percent of the $60 million payment would go to California racetracks, to be split with horsemen for purse payments and breeders incentives on a formula similar to current revenue sharing. Racetrack employee pension funds would also benefit. The other five percent would support state agricultural fairs.
While the racetracks’ participation in the online poker industry has been directly opposed by local tribal casinos, Gray has not been able to garner the full support of those tribes for his bill. A Thursday meeting with the tribes left some leaders feeling as though progress had been made, but others thought little had changed.
Bill AB 431 may be moot, however, according to assemblyman Mike Gatto, who set the odds of online poker legislation of any kind passing in California at just ten percent.
Read more at calvinayre.com.