Barely a week after withdrawing his bid to seek the intrastate legalisation of online poker in California (see previous reports), California Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer has issued a statement explaining his decision and outlining his plans for the future.
Some cliff notes from the statement:
* Jones-Sawyer will be back in the next session with a renewed attempt;
* He withdrew this year’s bill AB2291 because the Department of Justice and the California Gaming Commission did not have enough time to review the language and make relevant recommendations on its regulatory structure;
* He has been encouraged by the progress towards some sort of consensus among many of the tribal interests;
* His next attempt will include agreed changes following continuing dialogue with interested parties, in the hope that passage can be achieved quickly. He will seek agreement with competing interests, especially regarding who should be licensed….and by implication who should not;
* Two major hurdles – the exclusion of horse tracks and whether a bad actor clause should be pursued – will be actively addressed. Any “bad actor” provisions must be carefully worded for fairness and to withstand any future legal challenges;
“We have come a long way, but we have to be patient so we can get this right,” Jones-Sawyer observes in his statement. “Setting a standard in California that will be an example for the entire nation is my ultimate goal.”