The apparent withdrawal of California Assemblyman Adam Gray’s online poker legalisation proposal AB 2863 from the Assembly agenda Monday has left the bill in apparent limbo, with no mention so far of its status in Assembly notes and records.
Plagued by disagreement over a controversial late amendment inserting a 5-year or more block on operators who serviced the US market post the UIGEA in 2006 (see previous reports), hopes of a consensus allowing the measure to progress through the Assembly evaporated amidst strong statements from Pokerstars and the PPA urging legislators to veto the bill.
Pokerstars parent group Amaya in voicing its opposition to the “bad actor” clause, observed:
“As now drafted, the bill arbitrarily and unfairly bars one operator from competing with the supporters of these amendments in the iPoker market indefinitely.”
The California Legislature adjourns August 31, and it appears likely that for the tenth year running online poker legalisation could run out of time.