Once again, a proposed legislation to legalize online poker in the state of California was amended, this time redefining it as an ‘urgency bill’ allowing it to proceed in the 2011 legislative cycle.

This legislation, known as Senate Bill 40, was proposed by Senator Louis Correa. If the bill passes, California would see approved websites that are authorized to operate online poker games. A portion of the revenue earned would go to the state which is in need of additional income.

Previously, Senate Bill 40 was amended to add provisions to increase the number of possible licenses that could be made available early last month. This second amendment added provisions to make sure the state does not miss out on an opportunity to generate more than $1.4 billion in new revenues.

In a statement that was recently released, Correa stated, “With federal action looming and the market wide open, we have to quickly authorize online poker in California. To delay will mean loss of more than $1.4 billion in new state revenues at a time when it is severely needed.”

This seems to be the closest that any state is to a state regulated online poker system and could be the start a chain reaction in which states regulate online poker for additional state revenue.