News

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 01:07

While Governor Christie in New Jersey stalls his decision on the legalization of online gambling, another state, Iowa, drafts its new online poker bill.

There are now several individual states in various stages of putting forward legislation that, if approved will allow them to provide their residents with intra-state access to online gambling websites that are run and licensed with each state. In what appears to be a move to go against the federal stance on online gambling, these enlightened states can see the many financial benefits to allowing their citizens to spend their money on the kind of entertainment they choose. While their residents get some of their personal rights on choice back, the state collects the tax revenue that would otherwise be siphoned off to an offshore gambling company's coffers. On a financial level, there are more winners but no additional losers. As long as the legislation accounts for the protection of minors and other vulnerable groups, then they are doing more good by providing more protection than currently exists.

So far, the state furthest along the road to legalized intra-state online gambling is New Jersey, although despite bill S490 passing successfully through the legislature, it still awaits the final official thumbs up with the signature of the state's Governor, Chris Christie. Christie is stalling and there is speculation that he may veto the bill at the last minute for political reasons. Thanks to the legislature's recess period, he now has until 3rd March to either sign the bill into law or veto it.

The newest state joining the race to legalize intra-state online gambling is Iowa. Reports have surfaced that a draft bill has been presented to the state legislature to reform the law on the provision of online poker in the state. It is seen by many as controversial, but then most things to do with gambling via the Internet are seen as controversial due to their relative newness. The Iowa bill, in many ways similar to that in New Jersey, will allow state casinos to run online poker websites for the use by state citizens, from which the state will take taxation revenue. A similar bill that was drafted a year ago in Iowa failed because it did not cater for the protection of minors or vulnerable groups. The latest bill does just that with a provision that no one under the age of twenty one can use the prospective poker sites to gamble.

It is believed that currently, 150,000 Iowans are playing poker online illegally. The logic behind the bill is that those Iowans may as well be doing it legally while being protected by legislation and regulation and the taxes going into state coffers instead of vanishing into thin air offshore.