US egaming legislation reaches climax
The passage or otherwise of federal and state bills over the next few days could transform the US gambling landscape and that of the global egaming industry.
The US is bracing itself for a series of legal measures in the next few days that could change its federal and intrastate online gambling landscape forever. Amendments, bills and movement in Washington DC, New Jersey, California, and a potential federal poker-only bill are due to be discussed, and could even be passed before the end of this week, according to numerous media reports across North America.
Politicians in Washington DC yesterday passed an amendment to its Fiscal Year 2011 Supplemental budget Support Act to allow the capital’s lottery to offer residents online skill games and games of chance. In New Jersey, following its Senate overwhelmingly voting in favour of a bill to allow online gambling in the state, its Assembly committee is due to discuss, and potentially pass, a number of gambling bills tomorrow including bill S-490, which would allow Atlantic City’s casinos to offer online versions of their games to state residents as well as to international customers; in the coming days California is due to announce a new sponsor” replacing Rod Wright “ to reinvigorate its intrastate egaming bill; while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will attempt to pass a US federal online poker bill next Monday by attaching it to a package of tax cut measures President Barack Obama brokered with Republicans, US reports media reports have suggested.
Federal poker-only
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is said to be preparing to pass a US federal online poker bill next Monday by attaching it to a package of tax cut measures President Barack Obama brokered with Republicans, US reports media reports have suggested.
Although Reid’s office has yet to confirm the bill is authored by the House Majority Leader, the Wall Street Journal has stated it was being circulated by his staffers and is “backed by large casino interests” that have financially supported the Nevada politician over the years leading up to what is almost certainly his final session as a US Senator. According to the Center For Responsive Politics, Reid has received more money from the casino and gambling industry In the past two decades, around US$1.72m, than any other member of Congress.
While Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association (AGA), the representative body of the US land-based casinos, told eGaming Review last month in Las Vegas that he did not know if Reid would attempt to move an AGA-supported poker-only bill during the lame duck session, he did admit that it would be possible and that “[I]t would probably be done in the way UIGEA was done. It was attached to a piece of legislation that everyone knows is going to pass. So if they reach a settlement on the Bush tax cuts, they would attach it.”
On Friday, eGaming Review reported that three Republican gambling opponents had written a letter to the heads of both US Houses opposing an apparent attempt by “certain interests” to pass a federal poker-only bill during the so-called “lame-duck” period between last month’s elections and the inauguration of officials early next year. While these attempts currently represent minority opposition, in a few weeks long-standing gambling opponent Spencer Bachus, Dave Camp and Lamar Smith will be part of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, easily able to derail similar pro-gambling legislation.
Given the limited time window during which to pass the legislation, Reid is reportedly negotiating hard with Republican politicians behind the scenes trying to attach his federal poker legalisation bill to the tax cuts package President Barack Obama brokered with Republicans, Politico newspaper reported “ a move that could further complicate the deal Obama announced Monday.
Politico reported Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, as well as several senior congressional sources and gambling lobbyists, as having confirmed that Reid and his staff had reached out to other Senate offices to try to build support to add the online poker legislation to a measure extending the Bush-era tax cuts.
“They’re trying,” Hatch told the publication. Next year Hatch becomes ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over parts of the gambling measure. It added that a senior congressional official with knowledge of the ongoing talks said Reid had privately discussed the measure with the two Republican senators representing their caucus in the negotiations “ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona. Kyl, a leading opponent of online gambling, told Politico he intends to block Reid’s proposal and vowed there is “zero chance “ no chance whatsoever that would be part of the tax deal. I don’t think it would be the right thing to do.”
New Jersey
The Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee will meet in the state’s capital Trenton to discuss a number of bills designed to revive the Atlantic City casino and horse racing industries.
S-490 would allow Atlantic City’s casinos to offer online versions of their games to New Jersey and also to international customers. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Raymond Lesniak has previously said it would generate “millions of dollars in private revenue and would give casinos a new product to capture gaming dollars from tech-savvy gamblers” and that the bill would also “generate a minimum of US$35m in tax revenue to help build a bridge to self-sufficiency for our state’s ailing horse tracks.”
Tomorrow will also see Senator Richard Codey’s S-829 bill debated. This looks to authorise the establishment of an exchange wagering system in the state and was previously approved by the Senate by a vote of 34-1.
Local New Jersey newspaper The Press of Atlantic City quoted Democrat Assemblyman John Burzichelli as saying the racing bills “are essentially done”.
The paper added that the bill to allow online gaming could take effect “immediately upon passage”, but said it would take New Jersey into “uncharted waters” by setting up an intrastate system where only state residents could use the casinos’ online gaming portals.
California
With previous sponsor Rod Wright indicted on eight felony charges accusing him of filing a false declaration of candidacy, voter fraud and perjury, interested parties there have been seeking a new sponsor and could announce one in the coming days. This would also shed more light on a revised version of California’s intrastate egaming bill that originally stalled in June amid opposition from several Indian gaming tribes and card clubs to several of its provisions, with Wright saying at the time he would “never get a consensus”. If convicted Wright faces up to eight years and three months in prison. He has pleaded not guilty. Intrastate lobby group Poker Voters of America (PVA) is said to be poised to unveil amendments to the bill aimed at satisfying the concerns of stakeholders with the original framework, which broadened the scope of the initial draft beyond online poker. The PVA has said this has followed months of consultations with tribal governments, card room operators, state agencies and elected officials.
Washington DC
Several sources have indicated that the Washington DC Lottery could soon offer online poker and sports betting. An amendment has been passed to allow this to happen, according to the Washington Examiner with councilman Michael A. Brown including a proposal to legalise online gambling as part of a bill to close the capital’s US$188m budget deficit. It if passes, Brown says the expanded lottery game program could raise about US$13m in three years. The bill is scheduled for a final vote later this month.