Report: California Lawmakers Drop Sweepstakes Casino-Busting Bill

California lawmakers have introduced a bill that would ban sweepstakes casino operators in their state, according to Howard Glaser, the global head of government affairs and legislative counsel at Light & Wonder.

Posting on his LinkedIn page, Glaser — who is an outspoken critic of the sweepstakes model — said the bill, AB831, has been amended and will be posted for the world to see in short order.

Per Glaser, on Saturday: “A bill introduced today with the backing of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association follows similar lines as the New York legislation passed unanimously this week, making it unlawful to facilitate or promote the operation of illegal online sweepstakes casinos by any ‘person, entity, financial institution, payment processor, geolocation provider, gaming content supplier, platform provider, or media affiliate’.”

Furthermore, Glaser says the bill’s language would make sweepstakes pitchmen and women — like Drake, Paris Hilton, and Ryan Seacrest — potentially liable for their roles pushing sweepstakes casinos in the state.

Glaser said the bill is expected to gain a “favorable hearing” in the California legislature, and went on to say he expects either Texas or Florida to follow California’s lead.

The text of the original bill dealt with … well, not sweepstakes. It would tweak the rules for ratifying tribal-state gaming compacts by giving lawmakers 20 days — not 15 — after returning from recess to reject a compact. The bill also made minor technical edits to the existing framework, which governs how tribes and the state can approve agreements under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

But on June 13, the bill was “ordered to the inactive file.”

Full text coming soon

In the interim, Casino Reports has learned California Assemblyman Avelino Valencia gutted and amended the bill, which Glaser says he expects to see posted after a normal “lag.”

Additionally, Casino Reports was told the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino, which is owned and operated by the San Manuel Nation, was a major driving force behind the newly worded bill. Interestingly, the tribe runs its own social/sweepstakes site.

The Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) will be issuing a statement after the full text of the bill is made available, according to a source.

Sweepstakes operators have been dealing with plenty of tumult this year, and the past week was a continuation of that. New York lawmakers passed a bill banning online casinos with sweepstakes prizing, over 50 cease-and-desist letters were sent out by Louisiana and Mississippi, and a bill in New Jersey moved forward.