Another round for California Internet gambling bill

A California lawmaker has resurrected a long-stalled proposal to legalize Internet poker and other online gambling to bring up to $200 million annually to the state coffers, but some Indian casino operators are betting it will once again fall flat.

State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Los Angeles) has introduced SB 51, which would have the state issue five-year licenses to operate Internet gambling websites, with eligible bidders including Indian tribes, card clubs, horseracing associations and online advanced deposit wagering sites.

Wright has introduced similar bills since 2009 and they have never made it out of the Senate committee he chairs that oversees gambling in the state. Earlier this year, a coalition of card clubs and Indian casinos called the California Online Poker Assn. disbanded amid frustration that the issue remained gridlocked.

The California Tribal Business Alliance does not like that the new bill continues to allow card clubs and others to run sites that might take business away from brick-and-morter Indian casinos with exclusive state rights to electronic games.

"It gives no nod to Indian sovereignty or to our current exclusivity," said David Quintana, political director for the alliance, about the bill. "I think that bill is going to have to be dramatically changed to move forward."

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Photo: State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Los Angeles) has resurrected his bill to legalize online gambling. Credit: AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli.

 

 

Healthcare cuts questioned by lawmakers

Lawmakers gathered on Tuesday to review one of the most controversial parts of this year's budget, the decision to dissolve a well-liked children's healthcare program.

Officials plan to begin shifting nearly 900,000 children from Healthy Families into the general Medi-Cal program, which reimburses doctors at a lower rate, in January. Critics are concerned children will get lower-quality healthcare while only saving the state $73 million annually, a tiny amount of California's $91.3-billion budget.

Diane Dooley, secretary of Health and Human Services, defended the transition as the best policy, even though it was first suggested as a way to cut costs.

Although there may be bumps in the road, she said, "we will get over those bumps, and we’ll keep moving forward."

The future of the Healthy Families program was the subject of intense negotiations between Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown, and Republicans also made a bid to rescue the program.

At Tuesday's hearing, Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) criticized the end of Healthy Families, saying "it does not appear the cost is worth what we’re going to save."

Toby Douglas, director of the Department of Health Care Services, conceded that medical providers would be paid less under the state's plan but insisted that "there will be no impact on the kids."

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-- Chris Megerian in Sacramento
twitter.com/chrismegerian

Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), right, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) discuss the budget deal reached with Gov. Jerry Brown in June. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

Gov. Brown approves bailout, state takeover of Inglewood schools

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday approved a $55-million emergency bailout and state-takeover plan for the nearly-bankrupt Inglewood Unified School District.

The governor signed a bill that provides emergency loans to the Inglewood district while also having state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson assume the duties of the Inglewood school board. Torlakson will work with the county schools superintendent to appoint an administrator for day-to-day operations.

Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) introduced the bill after being warned by school officials that a significant decline in enrollment, cuts in state funding and poor financial decisions by the district’s management could result in the system running out of money in December.

“The students in Inglewood deserve an education and we have a constitutional obligation to provide it,'' Wright said. "This loan will close a painful chapter in the Inglewood Unified School District’s recent history and allow staff to get back to the business of educating the next generation of community leaders.”

Wright’s SB 533 was one of 22 bills signed by the governor Friday, but he also vetoed two bills, including one introduced in response to controversy in the Anaheim Union High School District.

The schools issued ID cards and planners that were color-coded based on the student’s performance on standardized tests. It was to recognize high achievers, but Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) proposed to ban the practice because it was "embarrassing and demoralizing’’ for students who did not do well.

In his veto message on AB 1166, Brown said the bill was unnecessary because there are already privacy laws protecting students and Anaheim has addressed concerns by changing its policy. He also objected to the bill telling a school district how to operate.

"The principal of subsidiarity suggests limits to state intervention in school district matters,’’ Brown wrote in the veto message. "Sacramento should not easily or too quickly pre-empt local decisions.’’ 

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: California Gov. Jerry Brown, shown at a press conference last month, on Friday approved a state takeover and bailout for the Inglewood Unified School District. Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

State Sen. Wright fined for not reporting gift of foreign travel

State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) has agreed to pay a $200 fine for failing to report a gift of more than $13,000 in travel provided by a nonprofit that paid his expenses to get a master’s degree in international relations.

The fine was proposed by the enforcement staff of the state Fair Political Practices Commission for travel expenses paid for by the Legislative Leadership Institute in 2009.

In all, the Wisconsin-based institute provided $42,767 in expenses for Wright as he flew to Rwanda, Switzerland and Ireland in the last three years for research with other public officials chosen by the institute to get a master of arts degree in international relations from Irish American University in Dublin.

The institute’s website said it was the creation of former legislators, business leaders and senior military leaders and is aimed at helping public officials "wishing to further their foreign policy expertise and expand their network of global contacts at key points in their public service."

The website does not say who bankrolls the institute and representatives did not return calls for information. The board of advisors includes Jeannette Kagame, the first lady of Rwanda.

Wright said the fellowship program helped him better understand how to resolve conflicts, something he said he can apply when dealing with stubborn Republican colleagues.

The senator said the failure to disclose the first year of the expenses was inadvertent. "The fellowship group is not a political group and so neither they nor I had any indication that anything should be filed,’’ he said.

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Photo: State Sen. Roderick Wright has agreed to pay a $200 fine to the state ethics watchdog agency for failing to report a $13,000 gift of foreign travel from a nonprofit group. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press.

Sen. Wright cancels hearing on his Internet poker bill

State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) on Tuesday canceled a hearing on his proposal to legalize Internet poker as observers said it did not appear to have enough votes to get out of the Governmental Organization Committee that he chairs.

Wright had significantly changed the bill to address concerns by card clubs, Indian casinos and other competing gambling interests, but opposition remained and it is unclear whether the senator will try again to negotiate a compromise this year. Wright did not immediately return calls for comment.

Some supporters of Internet poker have said they may ask another lawmaker to introduce a bill more to their liking. Last year, Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) carried an alternative proposal.

Wright’s SB 1463 would allow nearly 150 card clubs, Indian casinos and horse-racing tracks that operate in California to apply for licenses to run gambling websites open only to state residents. The goal of the bill is to raise at least $200 million annually for the state while protecting Californians who play poker over the web.

Several gambling groups said they would oppose the measure because it did not have enough protections against out-of-state groups taking over California poker sites.

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Photo: State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) delayed a public hearing and vote Tuesday on his legislation that would legalize Internet poker. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

Court dismisses two of eight charges against state Sen. Rod Wright; appeals expected

A  judge on Thursday dismissed two of the eight felony counts against state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood).  However, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy refused to dismiss the entire case, as Wright's attorneys had asked.

One of Wright's attorneys, Fredric D. Woocher, said they will appeal the judge's refusal to dismiss the case.  Deputy Dist. Atty. Sandi Roth said she will appeal the judge's dismissal of the two counts, which have to do with the two elections Wright voted in after he was in office.

The eight charges -- two counts of perjury, one count of filing a false declaration of candidacy and five counts of voting fraud – were  contained in a grand jury indictment in September. Prosecutors obtained the indictment after a two-year investigation of whether Wright lied about where he lived to run for the 25th State Senate District, a seat he won in 2008.

Prosecutors allege that Wright had concocted a scheme to register to vote, sign candidacy papers and vote in elections using the address of a multi-unit rental property in Inglewood he owned but never lived in.  They alleged he lived  instead in a house in Baldwin Hills, outside the  Senate district, and cited in part evidence gathered during a 2009 search of both properties.

Wright's attorneys said he met the residency requirements and cited California Elections Code Section 2026, which states the "domicile of a member of the Legislature ... shall be conclusively presumed to be at the residence address indicated on that person's currently filed affidavit of registration." 

The attorneys said Wright rented living space in a house on the Inglewood property and had purchased the Baldwin Hills home for investment purposes.  Further, they said in their motion seeking to dismiss the indictment that the evidence gathered in the 2009 search was irrelevant because Wright was already in office by then and spending most of his time at his Sacramento apartment.

Roth said in her rebuttal that the elections code section applies to incumbents, not to candidates, and was "never intended to grant immunity from prosecution to those who falsify their residence address with the intent to deceive voters."

Roth said after court Thursday that she expects the intended appeal to help clarify the elections code section.  Kennedy ruled that Section 2026 did apply to Wright once he took his state Senate seat and therefore could not be prosecuted in connection with the two elections he had voted in as an incumbent.

"We're grateful the court recognized [Section 2026] applied, whereas the D.A. did not," Woocher said.  But he added that he and attorney Winston Kevin McKesson believe the judge "went only part of the way" and will seek a full dismissal of the case on appeal.

The judge did not set a date for Wright's next court appearance, presumably to allow time for the appeals to be filed and heard.

--Jean Merl

September brings problems for the Legislature

What is it about September bringing bad news about the state Legislature? This week lawmakers set a new record for the longest budget stalemate, and one of their own, state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) was indicted on charges of perjury and vote fraud over allegations he did not live in the Senate district he represents.

It was Sept. 9 of last year when Republican Assemblyman Mike Duvall of Yorba Linda resigned over explicit remarks about sexual conquests. There is concern in Sacramento that Wright’s indictment is yet another hit that will further damage the public perception of the Legislature.

"The PR nightmare of the Legislature just goes into another chapter," said Larry Gerston, a political scientist at San Jose State University. He said the latest incident could erode public support for initiatives on the November ballot that would give more power to legislators and change how their districts are drawn.

While some lawmakers downplay the potential impact on the initiatives, there is frustration that the indictment will make some people more cynical about the Legislature as a whole.

"I don’t doubt that it does," said Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles). "But today he [Wright] is an innocent man until a jury of his peers says otherwise."

Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), who often voted with Wright as part of a moderate bloc in the Senate, praised his colleague as thoughtful and articulate. "His indictment is a setback to the Senate, the Legislature as a whole, his constituents and all Californians," Calderon said. "I remain hopeful that when all the evidence is weighed Senator Wright will be exonerated."

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) plans to be active in his backing of Wright.  "Rod Wright has my full support and is presumed innocent," Steinberg said, adding "I intend to personally contribute to his Legal Defense Fund."

--Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

State Sen. Rod Wright indicted on voter fraud, perjury

A Los Angeles County Grand Jury on Thursday unsealed an eight-count felony indictment against state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), accusing him of filing a false declaration of candidacy, voter fraud and perjury beginning in 2007, when he changed his voter registration to run for the Legislature.

Wright listed as his residence a home in the district he wanted to represent, but county authorities allege that he did not live there. A candidate for state legislative office is required by California law to reside in the district he or she seeks to represent.

The indictment also alleges that Wright fraudulently voted in elections in 2008 and 2009.

If convicted, he faces up to eight years and four months in state prison and would be barred for life from holding elected office.

Wright, 58, was arraigned Thursday morning before Superior Court Judge Patricia M. Schnegg. He pleaded not guilty and was expected to be released after posting $45,000 bail. He is due back in court Oct. 8. 

Wright had no immediate comment, but one of his attorneys, Winston Kevin McKesson, predicted that his client would be "fully exonerated." "We we believe he fully complied with the law," McKesson said.

The indictment comes almost a year from the day in 2009 when authorities searched two homes owned by Wright, one in Inglewood, in the 25th Senate District that he was elected to represent in 2008, and the other in Baldwin Hills, in the neighboring 26th District.

In confirming the searches of the two properties last year, David Demerjian, head of the district attorney's public integrity division, said the investigation stemmed from a tip the office received that the legislator had not been living in the district despite listing the Inglewood address as his home when changing his voter registration in March 2007.

Voter registration affidavits and declarations of candidacy are signed under penalty of perjury.

Wright won the Senate seat in November 2008. His district runs from the coastal cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula through the harbor area and part of Long Beach, as well as through Compton, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood and some portions of Los Angeles city and unincorporated areas.

Even if Wright is convicted of one or more felonies, it is unclear whether he would be forced to give up his seat. With few exceptions, including a recall election, legislators cannot be expelled from office except by a two-thirds vote of their colleagues in the Assembly or Senate.

Neither E. Dotson Wilson, chief clerk of the Assembly, nor Gregory Schmidt, secretary of the Senate, could name an instance in which a member of either house had been removed by colleagues over a matter of residency.

The Wright indictment marks the second time in less than two months that a local elected official has faced criminal charges over possible residency fraud.

On Aug. 4, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife were indicted on 24 felony counts when a criminal grand jury alleged they had committed perjury and voter fraud when they listed their home as being in Panorama City but actually lived outside Alarcon's 7th Council District.  

 Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, both pleaded not guilty.

-- Jean Merl