Bills Drop Provision to Let Casinos Own Card Clubs : Gambling: Change removes a major sticking point. Legislation would now only create a five-member state commission to oversee the industry.

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and allies in the Legislature announced Tuesday that they are removing a major sore point from measures aimed at changing the rules and imposing controls on California’s growing card club industry.

Lungren, Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento) and state Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco) said they are deleting language from Assembly and Senate bills that would permit big Nevada casinos to move into the state and become card club owners and operators.

Stripped of that component, the bills now seek only to establish state oversight of card clubs through creation of a powerful, five-member California Gaming Control Commission.

But whether the proposed commission can win legislative approval remains a question.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), who has insisted all along on maintaining the ban on Nevada casinos, said he was delighted that the Lungren bill now does so. But he said he opposed removal of an unrelated provision that would limit gambling interests’ contributions to $250 in local card-room referendums, even though the bill would make it harder for a card club to move into a community by requiring two-thirds approval of local voters instead of the current simple majority.

Until he examines the implications of the bill more closely, Hayden said, “for now I will drop my support.”

The new version also appeared to do nothing to woo Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) or Senate leader Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward). Both are at odds with Gov. Pete Wilson. The governor wants the power to appoint all five members of the proposed commission. The bill does not resolve the standoff, but Lungren said he had “renewed hope” for a solution. Brown and Lockyer also oppose elements of the legislation that they say invests too much authority with Lungren.

Originally, Lungren’s bill called for allowing publicly traded corporations to own and operate card clubs--the key that would unlock the door for the Nevada casinos to enter the state.

That provision was thought necessary to corral support as a trade-off for an oversight commission. Lately, however, many legislators have opposed casino ownership of card clubs, saying they fear the spread of gambling across the state.

“We hit a roadblock” in the Legislature, Lungren said. He added that he is now hopeful the Isenberg bill will advance beyond an Assembly committee where it has been stalled since April 5.