Possible Senate Online Casino Bill

July 23, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

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John Pappas, the executive director of the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) recently spoke publicly in Washington as part of the National Poker Week's celebrations. One of the more important items Mr. Pappas spoke about is the possible bill on a Senate level that will mirror Barney Frank's online casino bill.

Mr. Pappas explained that an online gambling bill on the Senate level is expected to be introduced by Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. However, Mr. Pappas was not able to commit to any sort of time-frame at this time.

While Barney Frank's bill is slowly working its way through the system in the House, a new bill on the Senate level, if introduced by Senator Robert Menendez, will likely move through the system more quickly than Frank's bill in the House. Once a State bill is approved, it is likely to speed up the approval of the House bill.

One would hope that both the online gambling bills, on both the State level, and on the House level, would be able to reach chamber floors before the winter break, where they could also be passed before the break. All that would be left to do after that would be reach any necessary compromises on any differences that may need to be addressed in the online gambling bills.

The PPA used the National Poker Week to generate additional support on the grass roots level for Barney Frank's bills. Barney Frank has authored and introduced two separate bills, one of which would ensure that online casinos and other forms of online gambling, such as Internet poker rooms, would be licensed and regulated in the United States. The second bill that Frank has authored has been designed to orchestrate the removal of the online gambling ban brought into being by the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act).

The bills have already faced some delays, firstly when it took longer than expected to complete them, and more recently, they have been put on the back burner until September because there were pressing economic matters that needed to be debated more urgently.

The Frank bills are not the only way that the current online gambling ban in the United States is being dealt with. The European Union has demanded that the online gambling ban be dropped since its protectionist measures are in contravention of international free trade laws. The ban on payment processing by the UIGEA has come under attack on a number of levels ranging from the judicial and political levels to legislative measures.