Options Are Narrowing For Online Gambling Bill In 2011
Options Are Narrowing For Online Gambling Bill In 2011 - Image via Wikipedia
The end of the year is racing to it’s close and so is the potential of an online gambling bill passing in the US House. Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader can introduce the bill HR2267 before the control of Congress passes to the Republican party in January. The Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is unlikely to be friendly to an online gambling bill once he takes the reins. He will most likely ignore online gambling legislation if its intention is to tear up the UIGEA.
If Reid doesn’t act, and he only has 3 weeks to do so, online gambling legislation will sit on the shelf once again. The concern for poker players is that bills similar to HR2267 would not be addressed again anytime soon. Reid is not giving any indication right now what he would do. When he won his election with a pretty wide margin, Nevada gambling supporters expected that he would get behind online gambling legislation as a way to support the state’s sagging economy. Reid has access to reports that show how much online gambling could boost finances for the state. He is staying mum for the moment, and companies such as Harrahs and Ceasars who supported him have high expectations of a bill going through.
For gambling proponents, best case scenario is that Reid would attach the bill to an existing bill which is likely to pass without a whisper before the end of the year. However, the challenge is that there are no current bills that have a ‘must pass’ stamp, such as those of last year that affected National Security. The common idea would be to choose a bill that is popular to pass, such as a a bill that provides memorial dedication plans for veterans. However, if Reid attached the gambling bill and it didn’t pass, he is spotlighted embarrassingly as trying to pull something off that didn’t work.
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Posted by Clinton Chipps
on Dec 4 2010. Filed under Poker Legal News.
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