Another US Online Gambling Bill

0 Comments   Email   Print

Another federal bill seeking to legalize online gambling is in the offing. Texas Republican Joe Barton will be sponsoring the bill. Barton has announced that he is in the process of finalizing the draft of the bill in consultation with the Poker Players Alliance. Unlike the bill introduced by Congressmen Barney Frank and John Campbell, Barton's bill will address only online poker. One of the reasons for this is that there is some movement in declaring poker as a game of skill and the bill could take advantage of this. Barton is the chairman emeritus of the United States Energy and Commerce Committee and he plans to introduce the bill under this committee so that he can have control over it.

Speaking to the Nevada newspaper Las Vegas Sun, both Republican Campbell and Democrat Frank have promised to support Barton's bill. Frank said that essentially he prefers any online gambling bill to take all online gambling verticals on board, which is the case with his bill. However he pointed out that there is "an extraordinary restriction on people's freedom right now" and therefore would take something over nothing. Campbell explained the quid pro quo relationship between the two bills. He will be co-sponsoring Barton's bill and he believed that Barton would co-sponsor his bill. They would all throw their weight behind which ever bill moves first.

Barton also spoke to the Las Vegas Sun. He said, "This is not a Republican leadership initiative, but they're aware of it. It's a sensitive issue, but an issue where there's a majority consensus in the House and Senate to make this change." Therefore the Republican leadership has given him the go ahead. The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has not made his stand clear on the bill. Reid has the backing of American Gaming Association. Reid had authored his own poker only bill but had failed to push it through in the Lame Duck session late last year.

Meanwhile the activity on the online gambling legislation at the state level seems to be in cold storage. Reid's home state of Nevada has taken the stand that it will allow online gambling but only after federal legislation is passed that permits the specific type of online gambling for which the license was issued or alternatively only if the Department of Justice provides written notification to the Nevada Gaming Commission that the specific type of online gambling covered by the license is permissible under federal law. Neither is likely to happen in the foreseeable future. For various reasons, the online gambling initiatives in Iowa, Florida and New Jersey have become inactive.

News Item Tools

 Email     Print     Digg     Del.icio.us    StumbleUpon

Comments

 Add Comment

Add Comment

More News