California Lawmakers Benefit from $1.4M in Gambling Contributions

For more than two decades, Tribes and cardrooms in California have clashed over the offering of some house-banked games. The Tribes argued that they have exclusivity over house-banked games, claiming that cardrooms across the state illegally offer such games.

Cardrooms, which are nearly 100 across the state, claimed that they didn’t breach the exclusive rights of the Tribes as they offered banked card games under the condition that a player acts like a bank.

The fight between the duo intensified with each side trying to prove their position. Both the Tribes and cardrooms attempted to find a resolution through lawmakers in the state, which ultimately resulted in support for campaigns of Assembly members on the Government Organization Standing Committee.

However, those contributions raised concerns about the stance of lawmakers on the committee, as the Tribes ultimately outpaid their rivals by a huge margin, a report released by Cal Matters suggests. Overall, the contributions to the G.O. Committee surpassed $1.4 million, but an overwhelming majority of that sum, or more than 70%, came from the Tribes.

But why were those contributions important? A prime reason was that they came ahead of an important vote of the Committee on a bill that is vital for the future of cardrooms. The proposal, Senate Bill 549 (SB 549), seeks to enable cardrooms and Tribes to resolve their grudge in court. That proposal recently passed with a majority of 15 votes out of 22. There was only one vote against and six members who didn’t vote.

The Committee’s Recent Vote Raises Suspicion

Currently, lawmakers in California cannot promise a specific vote in exchange for a financial contribution. However, data disclosed by Cal Matters reveals that lawmakers who received higher contributions from the Tribes supported SB 549, while a few who were outpaid by the cardrooms either voted against the proposal or didn’t vote at all.

The G.O. Committee is sometimes referred to as a “juice committee” because businesses may attempt to influence the vote of the members through contributions.

“No politician is ever going to tell you that money affects their vote, but the public isn’t stupid. It’s pretty darn suspicious that most of them voted based on where they got the most money from.”

Sean McMorris, transparency, ethics and accountability program manager for California Common Cause

Sean McMorris, California Common Cause’s transparency, ethics and accountability program manager, spoke about the importance of the Committee that attracted generous contributions from two important stakeholders.

He said that the contributions make a difference, but no lawmaker is going to admit that their vote would be affected. Finally, McMorris explained that it is incredibly suspicious to see members of the Committee vote in a way that matches the side they received the higher contributions.

As noted, if SB 549 is approved, it would enable the Tribes to resolve their issue with the cardrooms in court.

While cardrooms fear that the fight against the Tribes may be tough, going to court doesn’t mean that the Tribes get a guaranteed win.