It has been a busy week for the poker industry in California, as the State Senate heard two separate bills relating to online poker. The first was re-introduced by Senator Rod Wright who was having another attempt to pass his online poker bill through the legislature. Wright’s bill essentially calls for the legalization and regulation of online poker in California on an intrastate level, meaning that it will only be open to residents of the state and run by local operators.

Wright’s bill calls for the licensing of three Californian operators by the state’s Gambling Control Commission. This is Wright’s second try with the bill, which was previously introduced in a previous session. Unfortunately, it did not reach the stage when it got voted on and now Wright is back to give it another shot.

The problem with getting these types of bills passed is that they simply don’t have enough backing. A second bill heard this week may be successful as it has the support of some of the state’s Native American tribes. Senator Lou Correa’s bill has the backing of the California Online Poker Association, a group formed by several Native American tribes with the express purpose to back the politician.

Correa’s bill is similar to Wright’s, except that is makes more provision for local operators to have licenses awarded to them. Native American operators, therefore, want this bill to pass because it means that they will play a bigger role in the licensing process and earn more revenue.

The bills are similar to the one currently sweeping through the necessary legislative levels in New Jersey, which – if passed – will make provision for a legal and regulated intrastate online poker industry in the state.

New Jersey has not given up on its dream to legalize an intrastate online gambling system. While the Republicans may be making their way back to the House in January, individual states are still fighting for their rights to make their own decisions regarding gambling, including New Jersey.

Senators in the state are in the process of reviewing a bill that could create an intrastate e-gaming system in New Jersey, with the aim of keeping revenue flowing from casinos and racetracks.

According to the bill (introduced last year by Senator Raymond Lesniak), casinos in Atlantic City will be allowed to offer a form of online gambling to New Jersey residents. The gambling would be based on games in the casino’s portfolio.

The Garden State hopes that income from this venture would bring in 20% of annual gross revenue from the casinos and re-establish Atlantic City as one of the world’s gambling capitals. Lobbyists for this idea do not see any problems in terms of regulation and licenses, saying that solutions can be found very quickly if the senators give the green light to begin.

This week, the New Jersey Senate’s Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee met to consider Senator Lesniak’s proposal to legalize online gambling in the state.

Supports of the bill say that okaying this venture would help relieve a number of issues facing the state and its floundering gambling industry. Money could be earmarked to support struggling Atlantic City casinos, and the legalization of online gambling would also create several thousand much-needed jobs.

If the results of the latest Texas Lyceum group are anything to go by, a larger percentage of Texans support the expansion of gambling in the state. A poll was conducted by the non-partisan group at the end of last month, questioning Texans on random subjects – including gambling.

The results of the poll were surprising, considering that the state is traditionally categorized as conservative. It showed that a large percentage of Texans actually favor the expansion of gambling in some form of another. This comes after years of efforts by gambling proponents to bring about changes in the state that has some of the toughest gambling laws in place.

Those polled were asked a number of questions pertaining to gambling. For example, they were asked if they would support full scale casino gambling in the state, to which 29% said that they would. When asked if they were in favor of expanding existing gambling locations (such as race tracks), 21% said that they would.

Texans were also asked if they were in favor of outlawing gambling in the state altogether, to which only 22% replied that they were.

The issue of gambling is definitely one that is preoccupying Texans, especially in light of providing solutions to the state’s growing deficit. There are a number of pending bills that could change the current legislation if they have enough votes, and lawmakers will definitely be taking these latest findings of the Texas Lyceum into account when making their decisions. Texas is currently facing a projected state revenue shortfall as much as $18 billion.

“Legislators convening in Austin in January may want to take note that Texans are willing to soak the so-called ’sinners’ when it comes time to tackle the budget shortfall,” said Daron Shaw, a Texas Lyceum pollster.

The poll also focused on issues such as immigration and education.