After a California Senate committee advanced a bill to ban certain casino-style sweepstakes-based online games in the state, the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance reinforced its opposition to the legislation. The Alliance’s statement focuses on its dispute with claims that proponents of the bill made during Tuesday’s hearing.
Specifically, the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance says that bill supporters have fabricated claims about how websites offering casino-style games with a dual-currency system operate in regard to consumer protection and upholding responsible play standards. With the legislation facing another hearing, the Alliance’s statement also urges lawmakers to reject the proposal.
SGLA accuses AB 831 proponents of making up falsehoods
A July 15 statement from the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) makes the organization’s stance on AB 831 and Tuesday’s meeting of the California Senate’s Committee on Public Safety clear. The meeting featured testimony in support of the legislation from the bill’s sponsor, California Assembly member Avelino Valencia, and representatives for the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation.
“Following today’s California Senate Public Safety Committee hearing, the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) is urging lawmakers to reject AB831, a rushed and sweeping bill that would ban legitimate online social games and criminalize an entire form of digital entertainment enjoyed by millions of Californians,” the statement reads. “Online social games are mainstream digital entertainment that have been delivering free-to-play interactive board, card, and casino-style games to millions of Californians for more than a decade.”
“The SGLA urges lawmakers to carefully consider whether they want to support legislation built on misleading claims from perceived competitors who themselves fail to meet the standards they claim to champion,” said Executive Director Jeff Duncan. “The testimony claiming our industry lacks age verification is not only false – it’s hypocritical. San Manuel operates an online social casino with no age verification requirements whatsoever. Meanwhile, SGLA partner companies employ multi-layered identity verification systems.”
At the hearing, David Jumper, Chief Marketing Officer of ARB Interactive, explained: “[W]e operate with strong responsible play standards, including age verification, spending limits, identity checks, and self-exclusion tools. Contrary to the claims made by the sponsors of this bill, this is not an unregulated industry, and it’s not operating in the shadows. This is a mainstream entertainment supported by American jobs, American infrastructure, and most importantly, American investment.”
The bill, which was introduced last-minute towards the end of the legislative session, has had no formal study, no economic impact analysis, and no meaningful engagement with the companies it would affect. Its broad liability provisions raise serious red flags for tech platforms, app stores, payment providers, and media companies.
“We heard the bill author admit substantial amendments are needed to prevent unintended consequences but has failed to produce them,” Duncan continued. “Lawmakers are being asked to vote on legislation that even its author acknowledges is incomplete and inadequate. We urge California lawmakers to listen to the thousands of constituents that have contacted their offices and work with the industry to keep this established form of entertainment legal and properly regulated.”
During the hearing, the committee voted to send AB 831 to the California Senate Appropriations Committee. That will be the next testing ground for organizations like the SGLA to sway legislators’ minds their way.
SGLA finds allies in campaign to defeat AB 831
The SGLA and the Social and Promotional Games Association aren’t the only entities asking California senators to vote AB 831 down. The American Civil Liberties Union has also come out against the bill, expressing concerns about unintended consequences for businesses outside the sweepstakes casino industry.
Trade associations for endemic industries like payment processors have also joined the effort against AB 831, alongside the Californians United for a Responsible Budget organization. While a more diverse and robust opposition front could pose greater obstacles for AB 831’s passage, that diversity also creates more opportunities for AB 831 proponents to address the individual groups’ concerns with amendments to the bill.
The SGLA and SGPA have insisted that they are willing to provide feedback to lawmakers on bills to regulate instead of ban sweepstakes casino sites, even suggesting that California levy sales tax on transactions on the sites. However, for those discussions to occur, legislators will have to grant the SGLA’s wishes to reject AB 831.
