State Senate Postpones Hearing on Video Gambling Legislation
A bill to permit horse tracks to install nearly 13,000 video gambling machines stalled Monday when a key legislator blocked a hearing set for today.
Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), chairman of the governmental organization committee, which was supposed to consider the measure, put off a hearing until mid-August at the earliest. The legislative session concludes at the end of August.
Florez said the bill would amount to a huge policy shift. “The key is not to buy into a fast track for something so significant,” he added.
He said he doubted the bill would go to a vote this year.
“I believe we had the votes. However, the chair of the committee said there were a number of members who had concerns,” said the bill’s author, Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco).
Backed by California’s horse racing industry, Yee’s bill would authorize 1,850 machines at seven tracks.
Racing executives say the machines would help revive interest in horse racing.
But Indian tribes, which have a monopoly on Nevada-style slot machines in California, oppose the measure.
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