As a bill that could open card rooms up to new legal scrutiny makes its way through the state Legislature, San Jose officials aren’t willing to accept the hand they’ve been dealt.
The city is strongly opposing Senate Bill 549, a measure that would allow tribes to sue card rooms over the games they offer. If it passes—and if those lawsuits are successful—the landscape of legal gambling in California could change dramatically, functionally outlawing much of card rooms’ business and starving cities like San Jose of tax money in an already turbulent economy.
The bill is “a last-minute attempt to assist tribes in their efforts to file a large number of lawsuits to challenge long established games by card rooms across California,” wrote Sarah Zarate, the city’s policy and government relations director, in a June 28 letter.
