Bill Text: CA AB820 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Gaming: Gambling Control Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-06-19 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB820 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB820-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 820 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 17, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 24, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gomez
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 19805 of the Business and
Professions Code, and to amend Section 337j of the Penal
Code, relating to gaming.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 820, as amended, Gomez. Gaming: Gambling Control Act.
The Gambling Control Act provides for the licensure of certain
individuals and establishments involved in various gambling
activities, and for the regulation of those activities, by the
California Gambling Control Commission. For purposes of the act,
existing law defines "key employee" as any natural person employed in
the operation of a gambling enterprise in a supervisory capacity or
empowered to make discretionary decisions that regulate gambling
operations, including, among others, pit bosses, shift bosses, credit
executives, cashier operations supervisors, gambling operation
managers and assistant managers, and managers or supervisors of
security employees.
This bill would revise the definition of "key employee" to mean
any natural person employed in the operation of a gambling enterprise
in a supervisory capacity or empowered to make discretionary
decisions with regard to gambling operations. The bill would also
delete pit bosses and shift bosses from the definition of "key
employee" and would instead include shift managers and surveillance
managers and supervisors in these provisions.
Existing law regulates the collection of player fees in gambling
establishments. Existing law prohibits a player fee from being
calculated as a fraction or percentage of wagers made or winnings
earned. Existing law requires the amount of fees to be charged for
all wagers to be determined prior to the start of play of any hand or
round, but authorizes a gambling establishment to waive collection
of the fee or portion of the fee in any hand or round of play after
the hand or round has begun pursuant to the published rules of the
game and the notice provided to the public. Existing law also
authorizes flat fees on each wager to be assessed at different
collection rates, but specifies that no more than 5 collection rates
may be established per table.
This bill would delete the provisions authorizing a gambling
establishment to waive the collection of fees and would also delete
the provisions authorizing the assessment of flat fees for each
wager. The bill would instead specify that in games that feature a
player-dealer position, the player-dealer shall be required to pay a
fee to the gambling establishment for each hand or round of play and
each player shall be required to pay a fee from his or her own funds
to the gambling establishment for each wager made in every hand or
round of play. The bill would require all fees to be approved by the
department, but would prohibit the department from approving a fee
schedule for any player-dealer game unless the fee paid by each
player on each wager is not less than 1/3 of the amount of the fee
paid by the player-dealer in each hand or round of play.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19805 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
19805. As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall
apply:
(a) "Affiliate" means a person who, directly or indirectly through
one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under
common control with, a specified person.
(b) "Applicant" means any person who has applied for, or is about
to apply for, a state gambling license, a key employee license, a
registration, a finding of suitability, a work permit, a manufacturer'
s or distributor's license, or an approval of any act or transaction
for which the approval or authorization of the commission or
department is required or permitted under this chapter.
(c) "Banking game" or "banked game" does not include a controlled
game if the published rules of the game feature a player-dealer
position and provide that this position must be continuously and
systematically rotated amongst each of the participants during the
play of the game, ensure that the player-dealer is able to win or
lose only a fixed and limited wager during the play of the game, and
preclude the house, another entity, a player, or an observer from
maintaining or operating as a bank during the course of the game. For
purposes of this section, it is not the intent of the Legislature to
mandate acceptance of the deal by every player if the department
finds that the rules of the game render the maintenance of or
operation of a bank impossible by other means. The house shall not
occupy the player-dealer position.
(d) "Chief" means the head of the entity within the department
that is responsible for fulfilling the obligations imposed upon the
department by this chapter.
(e) "Commission" means the California Gambling Control Commission.
(f) "Controlled gambling" means to deal, operate, carry on,
conduct, maintain, or expose for play any controlled game.
(g) "Controlled game" means any controlled game, as defined by
subdivision (e) of Section 337j of the Penal Code.
(h) "Department" means the Department of Justice.
(i) "Director" means any director of a corporation or any person
performing similar functions with respect to any organization.
(j) "Finding of suitability" means a finding that a person meets
the qualification criteria described in subdivisions (a) and (b) of
Section 19857, and that the person would not be disqualified from
holding a state gambling license on any of the grounds specified in
Section 19859.
(k) "Game" and "gambling game" means any controlled game.
(l) "Gambling" means to deal, operate, carry on, conduct,
maintain, or expose for play any controlled game.
(m) "Gambling enterprise" means a natural person or an entity,
whether individual, corporate, or otherwise, that conducts a gambling
operation and that by virtue thereof is required to hold a state
gambling license under this chapter.
(n) "Gambling enterprise employee" means any natural person
employed in the operation of a gambling enterprise, including,
without limitation, dealers, floor personnel, security employees,
countroom personnel, cage personnel, collection personnel,
surveillance personnel, data-processing personnel, appropriate
maintenance personnel, waiters and waitresses, and secretaries, or
any other natural person whose employment duties require or authorize
access to restricted gambling establishment areas.
(o) "Gambling establishment," "establishment," or "licensed
premises," except as otherwise defined in Section 19812, means one or
more rooms where any controlled gambling or activity directly
related thereto occurs.
(p) "Gambling license" or "state gambling license" means any
license issued by the state that authorizes the person named therein
to conduct a gambling operation.
(q) "Gambling operation" means exposing for play one or more
controlled games that are dealt, operated, carried on, conducted, or
maintained for commercial gain.
(r) "Gross revenue" means the total of all compensation received
for conducting any controlled game, and includes interest received in
payment for credit extended by an owner licensee to a patron for
purposes of gambling, except as provided by regulation.
(s) "Hours of operation" means the period during which a gambling
establishment is open to conduct the play of controlled games within
a 24-hour period. In determining whether there has been expansion of
gambling relating to "hours of operation," the department shall
consider the hours in the day when the local ordinance permitted the
gambling establishment to be open for business on January 1, 1996,
and compare the current ordinance and the hours during which the
gambling establishment may be open for business. The fact that the
ordinance was amended to permit gambling on a day, when gambling was
not permitted on January 1, 1996, shall not be considered in
determining whether there has been gambling in excess of that
permitted by Section 19961.
(t) "House" means the gambling enterprise, and any owner,
shareholder, partner, key employee, or landlord thereof.
(u) "Independent agent," except as provided by regulation, means
any person who does either of the following:
(1) Collects debt evidenced by a credit instrument.
(2) Contracts with an owner licensee, or an affiliate thereof, to
provide services consisting of arranging transportation or lodging
for guests at a gambling establishment.
(v) "Initial license" means the license first issued to a person
authorizing that person to commence the activities authorized by that
license.
(w) "Institutional investor" means any retirement fund
administered by a public agency for the exclusive benefit of federal,
state, or local public employees, any investment company registered
under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 80a-1 et
seq.), any collective investment trust organized by banks under Part
Nine of the Rules of the Comptroller of the Currency, any closed-end
investment trust, any chartered or licensed life insurance company or
property and casualty insurance company, any banking and other
chartered or licensed lending institution, any investment advisor
registered under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. Sec.
80b-1 et seq.) acting in that capacity, and other persons as the
commission may determine for reasons consistent with the policies of
this chapter.
(x) "Key employee" means any natural person employed in the
operation of a gambling enterprise in a supervisory capacity or
empowered to make discretionary decisions with regard to gambling
operations, including, without limitation, shift managers, credit
executives, cashier operations supervisors, gambling operation
managers and assistant managers, managers or supervisors of security
employees, surveillance managers or supervisors, or any other natural
person designated as a key employee by the department for reasons
consistent with the policies of this chapter.
(y) "Key employee license" means a state license authorizing the
holder to be employed as a key employee.
(z) "License" means a gambling license, key employee license, or
any other license issued by the commission pursuant to this chapter
or regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(aa) "Licensed gambling establishment" means the gambling premises
encompassed by a state gambling license.
(ab) "Limited partnership" means a partnership formed by two or
more persons having as members one or more general partners and one
or more limited partners.
(ac) "Limited partnership interest" means the right of a general
or limited partner to any of the following:
(1) To receive from a limited partnership any of the following:
(A) A share of the revenue.
(B) Any other compensation by way of income.
(C) A return of any or all of his or her contribution to capital
of the limited partnership.
(2) To exercise any of the rights provided under state law.
(ad) "Owner licensee" means an owner of a gambling enterprise who
holds a state gambling license.
(ae) "Person," unless otherwise indicated, includes a natural
person, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, trust, joint
venture, association, or any other business organization.
(af) "Player" means a patron of a gambling establishment who
participates in a controlled game.
(ag) "Player-dealer" and "controlled game featuring a
player-dealer position" refer to a position in a controlled game, as
defined by the approved rules for that game, in which seated player
participants are afforded the temporary opportunity to wager against
multiple players at the same table, provided that this position is
rotated amongst the other seated players in the game.
(ah) "Publicly traded racing association" means a corporation
licensed to conduct horse racing and simulcast wagering pursuant to
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 19400) whose stock is publicly
traded.
(ai) "Qualified racing association" means a corporation licensed
to conduct horse racing and simulcast wagering pursuant to Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 19400) that is a wholly owned subsidiary of
a corporation whose stock is publicly traded.
(aj) "Renewal license" means the license issued to the holder of
an initial license that authorizes the license to continue beyond the
expiration date of the initial license.
(ak) "Work permit" means any card, certificate, or permit issued
by the commission, or by a county, city, or city and county, whether
denominated as a work permit, registration card, or otherwise,
authorizing the holder to be employed as a gambling enterprise
employee or to serve as an independent agent. A document issued by
any governmental authority for any employment other than gambling is
not a valid work permit for the purposes of this chapter.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 337j of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
337j. (a) It is unlawful for any person, as owner, lessee, or
employee, whether for hire or not, either solely or in conjunction
with others, to do any of the following without having first procured
and thereafter maintained in effect all federal, state, and local
licenses required by law:
(1) To deal, operate, carry on, conduct, maintain, or expose for
play in this state any controlled game.
(2) To receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation or reward
or any percentage or share of the revenue, for keeping, running, or
carrying on any controlled game.
(3) To manufacture, distribute, or repair any gambling equipment
within the boundaries of this state, or to receive, directly or
indirectly, any compensation or reward for the manufacture,
distribution, or repair of any gambling equipment within the
boundaries of this state.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly permit any
controlled game to be conducted, operated, dealt, or carried on in
any house or building or other premises that he or she owns or
leases, in whole or in part, if that activity is undertaken by a
person who is not licensed as required by state law, or by an
employee of that person.
(c) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly permit any gambling
equipment to be manufactured, stored, or repaired in any house or
building or other premises that the person owns or leases, in whole
or in part, if that activity is undertaken by a person who is not
licensed as required by state law, or by an employee of that person.
(d) Any person who violates, attempts to violate, or conspires to
violate this section shall be punished by imprisonment in a county
jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both imprisonment and fine. A
second offense of this section is punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for a period of not more than one year or in the state
prison or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000),
or by both imprisonment and fine.
(e) (1) As used in this section, "controlled game" means any poker
or Pai Gow game, and any other game played with cards or tiles, or
both, and approved by the Department of Justice, and any game of
chance, including any gambling device, played for currency, check,
credit, or any other thing of value that is not prohibited and made
unlawful by statute or local ordinance.
(2) As used in this section, "controlled game" does not include
any of the following:
(A) The game of bingo conducted pursuant to Section 326.3 or
326.5.
(B) Parimutuel racing on horse races regulated by the California
Horse Racing Board.
(C) Any lottery game conducted by the California State Lottery.
(D) Games played with cards in private homes or residences, in
which no person makes money for operating the game, except as a
player.
(f) This subdivision is intended to be dispositive of the law
relating to the collection of player fees in gambling establishments.
A fee shall not be calculated as a fraction or percentage of wagers
made or winnings earned. The amount of fees charged for all wagers
shall be determined prior to the start of play of any hand or round.
The actual payment of the fee may occur before or after the start of
play. In games that feature a player-dealer position, the
player-dealer shall pay a fee to the gambling establishment for each
hand or round of play, and each player shall pay a fee from his or
her own funds to the gambling establishment for each wager made in
every hand or round of play. All fees shall be approved by the
department. The department shall not approve a fee schedule for any
player-dealer game unless the fee paid by each player on each wager
is not less than one-third of the amount of the fee paid by the
player-dealer in each hand or round of play. Ample notice shall be
provided to the patrons of gambling establishments relating to the
assessment of fees. Fees on each wager may be assessed at different
collection rates, but no more than five collection rates may be
established per table.
