Senator Behind Poker Bill is Deep in Pocket of Tribe
A California state senator has introduced a controversial bill in the state legislature that would legalize and license online poker in the Golden State.
Although online poker anywhere has caused its share of controversy, what makes State Senator Lou Correa's bill especially controversial is a draconian provision in it that would allow the State to confiscate the homes of state residents who use online poker rooms that are not licensed in California.
The provision is obviously meant to scare Californians into using state-licensed online poker rooms, which if the bill becomes law will include online poker rooms run by Indian tribes in California that are already running land-based casinos in the state.
So it appears, as has been widely reported, that Correa is in the pocket of the California Indians who operate casinos, doing their bidding to the ridiculous extreme of promising to make homeless anyone who plays poker online at a competitor's site that's not officially licensed.
But just how far down into the pocket of the Indians is Correa?
So far down that if he got any deeper he'd actually be in Korea!
Gambling911.com conducted an investigation of Correa by examining public campaign donation documents and discovered that the 53-year-old Democrat, whose real name is Jose Luis Correa, has received more money in political contributions since 2003 from the Morongo Band of Mission Indian tribe than any other state senator who is currently serving.
Correa, from conservative Orange County and in his second term, received a total of $11,500 from the tribe, campaign documents reveal.
That's $3,500 more than the no. 2 recipient on the list, State Senator Ted Lieu with $8,000 in donations, the documents reveal.
The tribe has donated a combined $149,000 since 2003 to California state senators, and another $157,200 to members of California's State Assembly, the lower house of state legislature, the documents reveal.
Correa's bill to legalize online poker is called Senate Bill 40, or SB 40 for short.
Only in this case, the SB should be reversed, because the bill and the motivations behind it are pure BS.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
