Frank Targets Committee Vote On Internet Gambling Bill

Frank Targets Committee Vote On Internet Gambling Bill

14 Jul, 2010 / Gambling Compliance Ltd / Tony Batt

Barney Frank is trying to schedule a key committee vote before the end of the month on his bill that would require the US Department of Treasury to regulate online gambling, according to sources.

Sources said Rep. Frank is now trying to schedule a vote on either July 21 or July 28 in the House Financial Services Committee.

But Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is running out of time and still may not have the votes in his committee to pass his bill this year.

Two Democratic co- sponsors of the Frank bill — Reps. Shelley Berkley of Las Vegas and Bob Filner of California — are not members of the financial services committee, but they are now reconsidering their endorsements of the bill, sources said.

Berkley, who has been one of the Frank bill’s most visible advocates, was reportedly taken aback by a recent poll that showed 80 percent of Nevada voters oppose the legislation of online gaming because they fear it would result in layoffs at brick and mortar casinos in her state.

Berkley reportedly learned of the poll’s results from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nev.

“Congresswoman Berkley declined to comment on speculation from sources regarding her vote should Congress consider legislation to regulate Internet gaming,” Berkley spokesman David Cherry said.

Filner, who is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is having second thoughts because he believed money from the bill would go to veterans, sources said. Instead, revenue raised from the legislation would be split among the federal government, state governments and foster children.

Calls to Filner’s office on Tuesday were not immediately returned.

July 28 may be a more realistic date for a financial services committee vote on Frank’s bill than July 21 when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, are expected to appear before the committee.

But even on July 28, the committee is planning to vote on legislation to reform the troubled federal mortgage agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A successful mark- up and vote in the financial services committee would see Barney Frank’s bill H.R. 2267 become eligible for a floor vote in the US House of Representatives.

“I would venture to say this legislation is not likely to clear the House,” Sanford I. Millar, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in gaming law, said of the Frank bill.

“There are too many stakeholders who do not agree on the value of this legislation,” Millar said.

Those stakeholders include California gaming tribes, whose united opposition to a state- level Internet poker bill led to its withdrawal two weeks ago.

Tribes from California and other states are scheduled to come to Washington, DC next week to attend a conference sponsored by the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA).

In addition to attending the NIGA conference, there is speculation many tribes may visit Capitol Hill to lobby against Frank’s bill.

The Morongo tribe of California has complained the Frank bill would put Indian casinos at a competitive disadvantage with offshore gambling websites.

These are just the latest challenges in Frank’s struggle to shepherd his bill through his committee. Last November, he told GamblingCompliance the bill – which has 69 co- sponsors – would likely pass the committee no later than February.

Complicating Frank’s task is the rush by Congress toward its summer recess in August and a shrinking legislative calendar before election day on November 2.

This has fuelled speculation that if Internet gambling is legalized this year in Congress, it won’t happen until after the election in November when there will be a lame- duck session.

A lame- duck session includes members of Congress who return after the November election and vote on legislation even though they will no longer be members when a new session begins in January.

Frank’s push toward a committee vote means he has abandoned plans for an additional Internet gambling hearing that would have included officials from the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.

The additional hearing apparently became unnecessary after June 1 when the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve began enforcing regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

Another reason may have been the testimony of officials from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service at a May 19 hearing on Internet gambling by the House Ways and Means Committee.

An e- mail to Frank spokesman Steven Adamske was not immediately returned.