Barney Frank Bill Still on Its Way

March 31, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

0 Comments Many United States citizens and many online casino operators all over the world are hoping for changes in the laws governing online gambling in the United States. Barney Frank is bringing hope on this issue, albeit a bit later than he predicted.

Mr. Frank had initially expected that the proposed bill to legalize and regulate United States online gambling would be ready by this week - the last week in March. The bill is, however, not ready yet. Mr. Frank has been otherwise occupied with his other duties as the Massachusetts Representative. He is Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and thus has needed to focus some more time on certain issues related to his position. His time has recently been taken up with various financial rescue packages and also the important tasks of negotiating the stimulus bill through the House.

Mr. Frank has, however, not forgotten his commitment to bring a bill which would focus on legalizing and regulating Internet casinos in the United States. Having been unable to complete the bill in time to present it to Congress by the end of March, he now plans to present the bill to Congress soon after the mid-session break, which occurs in the second week of April.

Mr. Frank has certainly learned from the very vague wording of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) that he needs to ensure that he dots all the i's and crosses all the t's. In order to do so, he has teams helping to correctly draft the law. They are negotiating the exact wording so that terms will be clearly defined. They are also concentrating on specifying what is and what is not legal in order to ensure clarity.

A lot of attention has been focussed on Mr. Frank and his work to help replace the UIGEA with a framework that makes sense and works in the real world. His efforts to created the proposed bill have once again been highlighted after the European Union report publicly condemned the policy of the United States toward foreign Internet casinos.

There are, of course, those that speculate that while the UIGEA was hurried through into law in a sneaky way, the timing of this bill is also noteworthy. Seeing as it is now expected soon after the Easter holiday, there are those who wonder if religious fanatics, who are anti-gambling, will simply be too preoccupied with the festivities to take much time off to argue the new bill. There are those who believe that timing is everything!

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