Net Gambling Bill Hits Snags
July 22, 2010
| 9:24 AM
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank's drive to establish a licensing and regulation system for Internet gambling still faces resistance within segments of the industry after a tribal group and a brick-and-mortar casino signaled resistance during a Wednesday hearing, CongressDaily reported.
Representatives from the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut and Los Angeles' Commerce Casino both testified that they had found flaws in Frank's bill, throwing cold water on the bill as currently drafted. Frank, D-Mass., conceded that legislation would have to be tweaked to assuage concerns, especially from politically connected tribal groups that fear they could be placed at a competitive disadvantage if the multibillion-dollar industry was made legal. The bill could be marked up next week. The Senate has shown no interest in the issue so far.
"We are prepared to make some of the changes that people have talked about," Frank said of his bill that would overturn a 2006 law that banned the industry. Frank's bill would allow states and tribes to opt out of the system, and would still continue a ban on sports gambling over the Web. A companion bill by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., would place taxes on such a system, estimated to bring in as much as $42 billion over a 10-year period. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)
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