Although no date has been set, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) announced his intentions to mark up HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, as part of a hearing in July. Frank’s revelation came during testimony in the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on internet gambling on Wednesday.
The markup will take place in the House Financial Services Committee, of which Frank is the Chair. Frank’s committee last tackled internet gambling legalization in December. Then, Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), the Ranking Member of the Committee, asked for a follow-up hearing with members of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve. However, no additional hearing has taken place in the House Financial Services Committee.
Frank told House Ways and Means members on Wednesday, “It is true that the House did pass by a large margin [the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act]. The Senate fooled us. It acted quickly. Because we had a Republican leader who was intent on running for President, he got that bill added onto a bill in the Senate to which it was unrelated. When that became law, it became law to the consternation of many.” Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) was the driving force behind attaching the UIGEA to the SAFE Port Act in 2006.
Fueling the push for the House Financial Services Committee markup hearing is the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the industry’s main lobbying voice. The organization’s Executive Director, John Pappas, told Poker News Daily that he’s looking forward to July’s event: “We want to see a very successful markup. We want to make this as bipartisan as possible and I think we’re on the right path to do that.”
Previously, the House Financial Services Committee has been bogged down by banking reform, health care, and the worst U.S. economy since the 1920s. The Committee was set to tackle internet gambling in April, but a previously scheduled event in Massachusetts for Frank led to the hearing’s three-month postponement. HR 2267, which establishes a full licensing and regulatory framework for the internet gambling industry in the United States, is up to 69 co-sponsors.
Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, the PPA had been hard at work educating members of Congress on the prospects of legalizing and regulating internet gambling. The result: many members of the Ways and Means Committee pitched questions to two witness panels in a lively 150-minute hearing.
Pappas revealed to Poker News Daily that members of the Ways and Means Committee were open to learning about the issue: “In the couple of weeks leading up to this hearing, when we were meeting with people on both sides of the aisle, they said they’re not going in with any preconceived notions.” Among those who asked questions of the panels were Charles Rangel (D-NY), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Devin Nunes (R-CA), and Dean Heller (R-NV).
Congressman Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) HR 4976, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act, was introduced in late March and carries four co-sponsors. No markup occurred during Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing and no follow-up hearing has been announced.
On June 1st, the financial services industry in the United States must fall into line with the regulations of the UIGEA. Whether the landscape of the industry will change following the date is anyone’s guess. The PPA was successful in delaying industry compliance with the UIGEA rules from December 1st to June 1st. The organization currently has a petition out to exempt peer-to-peer games from the UIGEA, but it has not yet been acted on.
July represents a particularly dicey time period for Congressional hearings. Members of Congress are in their home districts during the week of July 5th to 9th. In August, lawmakers are also away from Capitol Hill. In addition, due to the upcoming November elections, it’s conceivable that very few officials will be on the Hill during the month.
