An act to amend Sections 19800 and 19812 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to gambling.
Summary
AB 2793 makes a narrow, targeted change to California’s Gambling Control Act by revising the qualifications for one member of the California Gambling Control Commission. Under current law, one commissioner must be an attorney with regulatory law experience; this bill would allow that seat to be filled by an attorney with either regulatory law experience or gaming law experience. The bill also includes technical, nonsubstantive cleanup changes to the statutory language governing the commission.
The measure does not change the commission’s size, appointment process, or core regulatory authority. It leaves in place the existing structure of the five-member commission, including the requirements that members be California residents, that no more than three members belong to the same political party, and that the commission include members with backgrounds in finance, law enforcement, business or government, and the public at large. Its practical effect is to broaden the pool of eligible candidates for one commissioner position and potentially make it easier to appoint someone with direct experience in gaming law.
Impact
AB 2793 amends Sections 19800 and 19812 of the Business and Professions Code, which govern the Gambling Control Act and the composition of the California Gambling Control Commission. The bill would update the statutory qualification for one commissioner from an attorney with regulatory law experience to an attorney with regulatory or gaming law experience, thereby expanding the types of legal expertise recognized for that seat. No fiscal appropriation or local program changes are indicated, and the bill is described as making only technical, nonsubstantive revisions beyond the qualification change.
Sentiment
The available legislative history suggests the bill was noncontroversial and broadly supported. It received unanimous do-pass support in committee and later passed on the Assembly floor with 73 yeas and 0 nays, and it was placed on the consent calendar. That voting pattern indicates general agreement that the change is modest, administrative, and unlikely to be politically divisive.
Contention
No significant opposition or substantive controversy is reflected in the provided materials. The only notable policy point is the shift from requiring regulatory law experience to allowing gaming law experience, which appears intended to better match commissioner qualifications to the subject matter regulated by the commission. Any potential concern would likely be limited to whether the broader qualification could alter the balance of expertise on the commission, but no such objection is documented in the transcripts or votes provided.
An act to amend Sections 19813 and 19883 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to gambling. Section 69842 of the Government Code, relating to courts.
An act to amend Section 26011 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to cannabis. An act to amend Section 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to amend Section 20010 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.