19961. (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), on or after the effective date of this chapter, any amendment to any ordinance that would result in an expansion of gambling in the city, county, or city and county, shall not be valid unless the amendment is submitted for approval to the voters of the city, county, or city and county, and is approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and Section 19962, an ordinance may be amended without the approval of the electors after the effective date of this chapter to expand gambling by a change that results in an increase of less than 25 percent with respect to any of the matters set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (5) of subdivision (b). Thereafter, any additional expansion shall be approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
(b) For the purposes of this article, “expansion of gambling” means, when compared to that authorized on January 1, 1996, or under an ordinance adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 19960, whichever is the lesser number, a change that results in any of the following:
(1) An increase of 25 percent or more in the number of gambling tables in the city, county, or city and county.
(2) An increase of 25 percent or more in the number of licensed card rooms in the city, county, or city and county.
(3) An increase of 25 percent or more in the number of gambling tables that may be operated in a gambling establishment in the city, county, or city and county.
(4) The authorization of any additional form of gambling, other than card games, that may be legally played in this state, to be played at a gambling establishment in the city, county, or city and county.
(5) An increase of 25 percent or more in the hours of operation of a gambling establishment in the city, county, or city and county.
(c) The measure to expand gambling shall appear on the ballot in substantially the following form: “Shall gambling be expanded in ____ beyond that operated or authorized on January 1, 1996, by ____ (describe expansion) Yes ____ No ____.”
(d) The authorization of subdivision (c) is subject to Sections 19962 and 19963 until those sections are repealed.
(e) Increasing the number of games offered in a gambling establishment does not constitute an expansion of gambling pursuant to this section.
(f) No city, county, or city and county shall amend its ordinance in a cumulative manner to increase gambling by more than 25 percent for the factors listed in subdivision (b), when compared to that authorized on January 1, 1996, without conducting an election pursuant to this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 181, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2007.)
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