The TOC strongly supports Assembly Bill 2863 that would legalize Internet Poker in California and provide an annual payment of $60 million to the horse racing industry — including more than $20 million in new Thoroughbred purses. The bill cleared the California Assembly Appropriations Committee earlier this week and is now headed to the full Assembly for consideration. This legislation requires a 2/3 majority vote of the Assembly (54 of the 80 members). It is vital that all Thoroughbred owners express our support now!

Please contact your local Assembly Member today and ask for their support for AB 2863 by Assemblyman Adam Gray. If you aren’t familiar with who represents your district in the Assembly, just click the highlighted text below. Also for your convenience, we have included a map of California that shows all counties where there is racing or breeding, which you can view by clicking here.

Please consider including the following points in your message:

• As a member of the California Thoroughbred industry, I strongly urge your support for AB 2863 by Assemblyman Adam Gray.
• AB 2863 authorizes card rooms and certain Indian tribes to apply for licenses to operate intrastate online poker.
• The measure will require age verification and dozens of consumer protections that are not available today.
• In exchange for foregoing our right to obtain i-Poker licenses, the horse racing and breeding industries will receive important subsidies, which will help protect jobs and drive economic growth.
• The California horse industry provides 50,000 jobs and contributes more than $2.5 billion to the state economy.

For further information, please contact Thoroughbred Owners of California CEO Greg Avioli at (859) 621-6864 or gavioli@toconline.com.

CLICK HERE TO LOCATE YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND SEND A MESSAGE.