A bill  sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk would allow licensed employees of a gambling establishment to work in more than one location.

Sen. Tony Strickland, who represents western portions of the Santa Clarita Valley, introduced the legislation in April.

Prior law limited “key employees” such as card dealers to work in only one establishment at a time. Key employees are licensed by the state after being screened for their general character, reputation, habits, and financial and criminal history.

According to a Senate analysis of the bill, Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, wanted to remove the “single establishment” restriction because it prevented key employees from working at different physical locations even if the casinos or poker rooms had the same owner. Strickland wanted to “assist these employees, who may not be able to work full-time at one location,” the analysis said.

State law defines a “key employee” as “any natural person employed in the operation of a gambling enterprise, in a supervisory capacity, or empowered to make discretionary decisions that regulate gambling operations, including, without limitation, pit bosses, shift bosses, credit executives, cashier operations supervisors, gambling operation managers and assistant managers, managers or supervisors of security employees, etc.”

Strickland spokeswoman Sarah Walsh said the legislation would not apply to Indian casinos, whose operations are governed under individual tribal compacts. It was not immediately clear whether any non-tribal card rooms are located within the 19th senate district. The decades-old Player’s Club is located in Oxnard, just outside Strickland’s district.

His bill, SB 374, cleared the Senate in May and the Assembly in August, both on unanimous votes, although Strickland himself was absent for the Senate vote.

Calif. Gambling Control Commission's map of non-tribal Southland card clubs (Click map to enlarge)