Proposed California Initiative Enters Circulation: Authorises New Gambling Forms

The Attorney General of California has prepared the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponents and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure are as follows:

AUTHORIZES NEW TYPES OF GAMBLING. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY AMENDMENT. Allows federally recognized Native American tribes to operate roulette, dice games, and sports wagering on tribal lands, subject to compacts negotiated by the Governor and ratified by the Legislature. Beginning in 2022, allows on-site sports wagering at only privately operated horse-racing tracks in four specified counties for persons 21 years or older. Imposes 10% tax on sports-wagering profits at horse-racing tracks; directs portion of revenues to enforcement and problem-gambling programs. Prohibits marketing of sports wagering to persons under 21. Authorizes private lawsuits to enforce other gambling laws. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased state revenues, potentially reaching the tens of millions of dollars annually, from payments made by facilities offering sports wagering and new civil penalties authorized by this measure. Some portion of these revenues would reflect a shift from other existing state and local revenues. Increased state regulatory costs, potentially reaching the low tens of millions of dollars annually. Some or all of these costs would be offset by the increased revenue or reimbursements to the state. Increased state enforcement costs, not likely to exceed several million dollars annually, related to a new civil enforcement tool for enforcing certain gaming laws. (19-0029A1.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1886 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 19-0029.

The proponents of the measure, Edwin “Thorpe” Romero, Jeff L. Grubbe, Anthony Roberts, and Marc Macarro, must collect signatures of 997,139 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2018 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than July 20, 2020^*. The proponents can be reached c/o Lance H. Olson of Olson, Hagel, & Fishburn, LLP at (916) 442-2952. The address for Olson, et al., LLP is 555 Capitol Mall, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95814.

• Date adjusted for official deadline, which falls on a Sunday (Elec. Code § 15).