News

Sunday, 25 July 2010 07:56

The long awaited Bill tendered by Rep. Barney Frank is to get a hearing in the House Financial Services Committee on 21st July, but don't hold your breath…

Frank's Bill which is intended to repeal the UIGEA and set the machinery in motion to have online gambling legalized and regulated is set for a hearing in the committee that Frank chairs. Many suspect however that this hearing is more of a move to keep it alive than anything else. The Bill, which, to give it its full title is HR 2267, Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act has been hanging in political limbo since the beginning of December last year.

While Frank has been continually mentioning his intention to push forward this Bill, the committee has been too busy with more pressing economic and financial concerns that need to be discussed given the current state of the country's economy. Finally, he has secured a date for the hearing that will put HR 2267 in front of the Committee.

There is good news and bad news accompanying this scheduled hearing. The good news for the industry is that there is forward movement for this Bill, but the bad news is despite the hearing, the Bill may still be heading nowhere fast. The problem is that there is only half a day scheduled for after lunch on 21st July whereas most hearings of this nature get a full day and there is no mark up scheduled for that date. That raises the problem that before the bill can progress for debate in the House of Representatives a further hearing will need to be arranged for the House Committee vote to be taken.

To make matters worse, the Committee has not released a list of witnesses, which makes for an uncertain agenda at the hearing. To add to the potential problems this Bill may face is the fact that since the start of the year, there have been just six new supporters who have signed on which could imply that support has reached its saturation point.

Despite these concerns, there is still the chance that the Bill will make it to a debate by the full House. If the legislation passes through the House, then it will go before the Senate which is under democrat control. To add an extra voice to their cause, Democrat Carte Goodwin is tipped to occupy the vacant Senate seat previously occupied by West Virginia's Robert Byrd. If Barney Frank is able to get his Bill before the Senate before the elections in November, he stands the greatest chance of having it passed into law.