Sen. Archuleta’s bill would require published purposes for gaming fees; committee sends measure to appropriations

Senator Archuleta urged the panel to advance Senate Bill 9 20, saying the measure would require the California Gaming Control Commission to publish a regulation stating a fee's authorized purpose and cost basis when that fee is adopted or adjusted.

The bill, Archuleta said, grew out of a 2018 audit of the Gaming Control Fund and is intended to "enhance transparency, accountability and fiscal integrity" in how fee revenues are tied to regulatory purposes. "This bill has no opposition," Archuleta told the committee.

Brian Lundgren, testifying for Communities for California Cardrooms, told the subcommittee that the measure simply "adds belt-and-suspenders to the fees of the gambling control commission" and that "Requiring published statements of purpose and cost basis summaries is just good governance." Lundgren and other industry witnesses asked the committee for an aye vote.

Assemblymember Dixon asked whether the bill was a response to the 2018 audit and why it had taken several years to reach the committee; Archuleta answered succinctly, citing governance as the reason for the delay. No formal opposition was recorded during the hearing.

Assemblymember Gibson moved to pass SB 9 20 to the appropriations committee; Assemblymember Soria seconded. The clerk recorded ayes from multiple members, and the chair announced the motion was "due passed to appropriations" while leaving the roll open for absent members.

The hearing also recommended several consent-calendar measures to appropriations, including SB 33 (Cortesi), SB 1205 (Valladares), SB 1235, SB 1236, SB 1273 (Cabaldon) and SB 1434. The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.