“Californians for Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support,” which hopes to qualify an online sports betting measure for the November ballot, has passed the halfway mark of verifiable signatures. Based on random verifications, the California Secretary of State’s office is projecting that 578,799 signatures are valid, more than half of the 997,139 needed to make the ballot.
The proponents submitted nearly 1.6 million signatures to the Secretary of State’s office last month, giving them a 10 percent cushion. State officials have until June 2 to complete the random sampling, with 23 counties that remain to submit their signature data. That includes the three counties where proponents gathered the most signatures, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego.
The measure, which is backed by out-of-state sportsbook operators, would amend the state constitution. Should it qualify for the ballot, two sports betting measures would be presented to voters. The first, put forward by a consortium of gaming tribes, would give tribal casinos and the Golden State’s four racetracks a monopoly on retail sports betting, while not allowing mobile sports betting.
The operator-sponsored measure would allow operators to offer mobile sports betting, but tethered to tribal casinos. Both measures could pass because they don’t exclude each other. However, the state’s cardrooms have brought a legal challenge to the tribal measure.
Under the provisions of the operators’ measure, sportsbook operators would pay a $100 million license fee. It would lock out smaller operators by requiring that operators be licensed in at least 10 other states, or five states if they operate at 12 Class II casinos.
Tribal casinos could get a license for $10 million.
The measure would earmark most of the taxes generated from online sports betting to tackle homelessness and mental health problems.
The rival measures have already generated considerable heat. The operators have said they will spend $100 million to sell the voters, while tribes have already started a well-financed campaign to disparage the measure by claiming that it would lead to thousands of minors being allowed to make sports bets.
Various politicians, business groups, labor unions and civic organizations have come out for or against the rival measures.
