Campbell introduces new federal bill
A new federal online gambling bill has been introduced in the United States, sponsored by Republican congressman John Campbell.
A long-awaited federal online gambling bill was introduced in Washington last night by US congressman John Campbell.
HR1174 isthe first federal proposal to see the light of day since Harry Reid’s failed bill during the lame duck session in December last year. The news comes just a week after the introduction of William Horne’s intrastate bill in Nevada, and less than 48 hours after Miguel Diaz de la Portilla’s Florida bill passed out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
Campbell’s bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Barney Frank, Republican Peter T King and Democrat Ed Perlmutter, will be known as the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, and is almost identical to Frank’s HR2267 bill which passed out of committee last July.
Lobby group Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has come out in support of the bill, with chairman Alfonse d’Amato commending it for “[protecting] players’ rights while implementing important consumer safeguards.”
In a press release posted last night on the PPA’s website, the group provided a rundown of some of the most important measures contained in the bill. Measures include: “A thorough vetting of potential licensees and creation of a [Office of Foreign Assets Control-style (OFAC)] list of illegal operators,” plus the “mandatory implementation of technologies to protect against underage gambling using the commercial and government databases used for online banking to verify age and identity.”
The bill has been Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, as well as the committees on the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for an as-yet-undecided period of time.
Frank’s bill previously passed out of committee stage in late July last year but failed to progress any further despite “historic” bi-partisan support.