Gambling Control Act.

(1) The existing Gambling Control Act (act) provides for the licensure and regulation of various legalized gambling activities and establishments by the California Gambling Control Commission and the investigation and enforcement of those activities and establishments by the Department of Justice. The existing act specifically requires the commission to provide for a state gambling license, key employee license, or work permit and authorizes the commission to deny a license or work permit for any cause deemed reasonable by the commission. The existing act makes a person under 21 years of age ineligible for a work permit in a gambling establishment and prohibits that person from entering the premises of a gambling establishment, except as provided. The existing act makes it a crime, punishable as a misdemeanor, for a person under 21 years of age to, among other things, be an employee of a licensed gambling establishment, except in areas of the establishment where no gambling activity or activity directly associated with gambling takes place. This bill would permit a person who is 18 through 20 years of age to work in a gambling establishment without a work permit, but only in job classifications that do not involve working on the gaming floor or on other restricted access areas, as specified, and that are not involved in the play of a controlled game, as specified. The bill would require an employee who is 18 through 20 years of age to wear a chest-level badge on their outermost garment stating the person is under 21 years of age, as specified. The bill would also make conforming changes. (2) The existing act requires an individual who is under 21 years of age and using a pathway to enter upon or pass through the gaming floor to be accompanied by or in the presence of a person or gambling establishment employee who is over 21 years of age, as specified. This bill would instead require a nonemployee who is under 21 years of age to be accompanied by a person or gambling establishment employee who is over 21 years of age, in certain areas of the establishment. (3) The existing act prohibits a person from being employed as a gambling enterprise employee unless the person has a work permit or is an independent contractor not required to hold a work permit. This bill would authorize a person to begin working as a gambling enterprise employee with limited job duties after applying for a work permit, provided that the person wears a chest-level badge on their outermost garment stating their temporary authorization, as specified. This bill would also permit a person who is 18 through 20 years of age to work as a gambling enterprise employee without a work permit but only in positions that are located outside of certain areas of the establishment and that do not involve gambling operations, as specified.