Bill Text: CA SB135 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Gambling.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB135 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB135-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 135 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Berryhill
JANUARY 22, 2015
An act to amend Section 19801 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to gambling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 135, as introduced, Berryhill. Gambling.
The Gambling Control Act provides for the licensure and regulation
of various legalized gambling activities and establishments by the
California Gambling Control Commission and the investigation and
enforcement of those activities and establishments by the Department
of Justice. Existing law makes related findings and declarations.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19801 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
19801. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) State law prohibits commercially operated lotteries, banked or
percentage games, and gambling machines, and strictly regulates
parimutuel wagering on horse racing. To the extent that state law
categorically prohibits certain forms of gambling and prohibits
gambling devices, nothing herein shall be construed, in any manner,
to reflect a legislative intent to relax those prohibitions.
(b) The State of California has permitted the operation of
gambling establishments for more than 100 years. Gambling
establishments were first regulated by the State of California
pursuant to legislation which that was
enacted in 1984. Gambling establishments currently employ more than
20,000 people in the State of California, and contribute more than
one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in taxes and fees to
California's government. Gambling establishments are lawful
enterprises in the State of California , and are
entitled to full protection of the laws of this state.
(c) Gambling can become addictive and is not an activity to be
promoted or legitimized as entertainment for children and families.
(d) Unregulated gambling enterprises are inimical to the public
health, safety, welfare, and good order. Accordingly, no person in
this state has a right to operate a gambling enterprise except as may
be expressly permitted by the laws of this state and by the
ordinances of local governmental bodies.
(e) It is the policy of this state that gambling activities that
are not expressly prohibited or regulated by state law may be
prohibited or regulated by local government. Moreover, it is the
policy of this state that no new gambling establishment may be opened
in a city, county, or city and county in which a gambling
establishment was not operating on and before January 1, 1984, except
upon the affirmative vote of the electors of that city, county, or
city and county.
(f) It is not the purpose of this chapter to expand opportunities
for gambling, or to create any right to operate a gambling enterprise
in this state or to have a financial interest in any gambling
enterprise. Rather, it is the purpose of this chapter to regulate
businesses that offer otherwise lawful forms of gambling games.
(g) Public trust that permissible gambling will not endanger
public health, safety, or welfare requires that comprehensive
measures be enacted to ensure that gambling is free from criminal and
corruptive elements, that it is conducted honestly and
competitively, and that it is conducted in suitable locations.
(h) Public trust and confidence can only be maintained by strict
and comprehensive regulation of all persons, locations, practices,
associations, and activities related to the operation of lawful
gambling establishments and the manufacture and distribution of
permissible gambling equipment.
(i) All gambling operations, all persons having a significant
involvement in gambling operations, all establishments where gambling
is conducted, and all manufacturers, sellers, and distributors of
gambling equipment must be licensed and regulated to protect the
public health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of this
state as an exercise of the police powers of the state.
(j) To ensure that gambling is conducted honestly, competitively,
and free of from criminal and
corruptive elements, all licensed gambling establishments in this
state must shall remain open to the
general public public, and the access
of the general public to licensed gambling activities must
shall not be restricted in any manner, except as
provided by the Legislature. However, subject to state and federal
prohibitions against discrimination, nothing herein
in this chapter shall be construed to preclude
exclusion of unsuitable persons from licensed gambling establishments
in the exercise of reasonable business judgment.
(k) In order to effectuate state policy as declared
herein, in this section, it is necessary that
gambling establishments, activities, and equipment be licensed, that
persons participating in those activities be licensed or registered,
that certain transactions, events, and processes involving gambling
establishments and owners of gambling establishments be subject to
prior approval or permission, that unsuitable persons not be
permitted to associate with gambling activities or gambling
establishments, and that gambling activities take place only in
suitable locations. Any license or permit issued, or other approval
granted pursuant to this chapter, is declared to be a revocable
privilege, and no holder acquires any vested right therein
or thereunder. in that license, permit, or other
approval or under this chapter.
(l) The location of lawful gambling premises, the hours of
operation of those premises, the number of tables permitted in those
premises, and wagering limits in permissible games conducted in those
premises are proper subjects for regulation by local governmental
bodies. However, consideration of those same subjects by a state
regulatory agency, as specified in this chapter, is warranted when
local governmental regulation respecting those subjects is inadequate
or the regulation fails to safeguard the legitimate interests of
residents in other governmental jurisdictions.
(m) The exclusion or ejection of certain persons from gambling
establishments is necessary to effectuate the policies of this
chapter and to maintain effectively the strict regulation of licensed
gambling.
(n) Records and reports of cash and credit transactions involving
gambling establishments may have a high degree of usefulness in
criminal and regulatory investigations and, therefore, licensed
gambling operators may be required to keep records and make reports
concerning significant cash and credit transactions.
