SACRAMENTO, Sept. 16 CA-California-Charity
SACRAMENTO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- SB 1369 is a gut and amend bill
headed for the Governor's desk that would devastate hundreds of local
charities while allowing California's tribal casinos to expand their gambling
operations onto the internet, essentially amounting to the greatest expansion
of legal gambling in California's history. This competition would in turn
severely weaken the viability of the California Lottery as a potential revenue
source, an idea now under discussion through the latest proposed state budget.
SB 1369 outlaws the electronic charity bingo machines that hundreds of
small charities throughout the state rely on for funding. In its place, it
creates something called "Remote Caller Bingo," a technology that that links
simultaneous Bingo games at multiple locations throughout the state. While
organizers of Remote Caller Bingo will be able to offer larger, "life
altering" jack pots, the technology will be unavailable to small charities and
its practicality and profitability is questionable even for larger charities,
Meanwhile, the spread of Remote Caller Bingo through internet technology
triggers a little-known clause buried inside the Indian gaming compact:
basically, casinos operating under the compact have the right to use the
internet for gambling if that technology is opened up to anyone else in
California.
Essentially, if charities can offer Remote Caller Bingo online, then the
door is open for gaming tribes to do the same. Because bingo is a game
authorized by the lottery, tribes will be able to offer lottery games online.
And what's more, loopholes in compact language and federal law may give
casinos the green light to not only offer Bingo and Lottery games, but to
offer other casino games like poker, black jack and slots. Anything that's
played inside a casino could be played over the Internet with the approval of
SB 1369.
According to I. Nelson Rose, a leading authority on gaming law, SB 1369
could "lead to the greatest expansion of legal gambling in history."
Current online gambling operations are hosted overseas and betting and
collecting winnings can be problematic. But with SB 1369, California would
become the first U.S. state to allow fully legalized online gambling!
Hundreds of local charities are dependent on Governor Schwarzenegger's
veto of SB 1369. While the state budget has dragged into a record setting
stalemate that is on the minds of Californians, it is equally important to
Californians that our elected leaders protect local charities and the people
they serve. To learn more, visit http://www.savecharitybingo.org.
SOURCE California Charity Bingo Association
