News Clip about the Public Hearings on S535
THE ISSUE: Under state law, playing poker is illegal in South Carolina. State Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, has offered legislation legalizing so-called social gambling, which would create an affirmative defense from prosecution when the gambling is done in a private home and there is no house profit.
THE PROBLEM: Opponents in the Legislature, especially Upstate conservatives, already have killed previous efforts to legalize “kitchen-table” poker and don’t seem inclined to change their stance.
WHAT’S NEXT: A long legislative process of committee reviews. Statehouse bills have a two-year lifespan, which means that if the bill does not pass by the end of the 2009 session in late May or early June, there’s always time in 2010, which is an election year.
(excerpted from The Post and Courier)
