Brian, Check this out!
GTON, DC, U.S.A. (NB) -- By Robert
(1) MacMillan, Newsbytes. Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.,
and Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., are resurrecting their
online gambling bill from the previous congressional
session, but the bill will not mirror Jon Kyl's, R-Ariz.,
measure that was recently reintroduced in the Senate.
(2) A staffer for Goodlatte told Newsbytes that the bill
will be reintroduced in the "next couple of weeks," but
that it will differ in at least two key ways from the Kyl
legislation: it will not take on the issue of fantasy sports,
merely games of chance; and it will not throw down a
federal blanket on online gambling. Instead, it will allow
states to decide their own online gambling policies.
(3) Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., also will sign on as a
sponsor to the legislation this year. He previously
introduced a bill of his own in the 105th Congress that
would have outlawed most types of online gambling.
(4) The bill is an important one especially for LoBiondo.
As a Congressman from the state that Atlantic City
calls home, LoBiondo always has taken a keen interest
in gambling policy. He also serves as the chairman of
the Congressional Gambling Caucus, which he founded.
(5) It is not clear what effect Internet gambling is
expected to have on the betting industry in places like
Atlantic City or Las Vegas, but at a hearing last month
on Kyl's online gambling bill, a senior New Jersey
betting official told Newsbytes that he anticipates a
significant impact on casino operations in New Jersey if
online wagering really takes off.
(6) Kyl's bill outlaws most types of online gambling on a
federal level, and calls for three months in prison and
$1,500 in fines, or three times the amount of the wager,
for bettors caught in the act. Last year's version of the
bill, which passed the Senate 90-10, but died in the
House, did not make any exceptions for Native
American tribal betting operations.
(7) The Goodlatte staffer said that the Goodlatte-LoBiondo
bill last year made it out of the
Judiciary Committee, but died before the end of the
105th congressional session as its supporters turned
more of their efforts toward that session's version of the
SAFE encryption Act. |
