Pennsylvania Lottery chief attacks Reid legalization initiative

Posted 12/17/10 : The chief of the Pennsylvania Lottery voiced a decidedly protectionist protest this week against efforts by Nevada Senator Harry Reid to pass federal law legalising online gambling.
 
Events have since overtaken the Pennsylvanian opposition, but lottery chief Ed Trees protested that federal legalization to legalise Internet poker could decimate Pennsylvania Lottery sales, cut net profits that fund vital services for older adults and harm Lottery's 8,700 business partners.
 
"The draft legalization – introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and rumored to become attached to the bill extending federal tax cuts and unemployment benefits – would legalize Internet poker and create a new gaming industry, overturning a 2006 federal law that effectively prohibits online gambling," Trees said in a letter distributed to lawmakers Wednesday.
 
The lottery chief issued the statement to all Pennsylvania Congressional delegates, all members of the General Assembly and each of the commonwealth's 52 Area Agencies on Aging. Additionally, as president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), Trees additionally released a statement opposing the Reid bill nationally, on behalf of all U.S. Lotteries.