Federal Poker Legalisation Bill On Way
Sunday May 26,2013 : FEDERAL ONLINE POKER LEGALISATION BILL ON THE WAY?
PPA spokesman says drafting is underway…but who is behind the latest effort?
Rumours of a fresh federal online poker legalization attempt were fuelled by statements from a Poker Players Alliance spokesman over the weekend, raising the possibility that two federal attempts are in the Congressional legislative machine – one from an as yet undisclosed source and another from tenacious Texas politician Joe Barton, who has seen his previous attempts come to nothing.
PPA executive director John Pappas predicted that by June 2013 a new federal internet poker legalization bill will be introduced. Pappas said that drafting was already in progress on the bill, although he did not disclose who was driving the current initiative.
“There are some drafting issues that won't be resolved this week," Pappas said. "This means they are trying to get the bill right, not fast, which is a good thing.
"There is a real effort to get stakeholder support for this product and it just won't happen before tomorrow. Of course there are no guarantees that all stakeholders will be satisfied with the end product. Look for introduction in early June now."
Pappas said that Barton's latest effort will probably only see light later in the session, according to the Congressman's staff.
InfoPowa readers will recall that earlier this month reports surfaced predicting a new federal bill from U.S. Republican Representative Peter King.
The usually reliable Washington DC newspaper Politico reported that King plans to introduce new online poker legalization in the House of Representatives “shortly.”
Politico sources said that he was motivated by the growing numbers of individual states independently legalising the online poker game, and that the new proposal was more states-friendly than previous attempts, avoiding controversy over what was previously perceived as a Nevada bias, and paying appropriate respect to states' rights..
The new King effort is said to provide carve-outs for lotteries while limiting internet gambling largely to poker.
