Hearing Announced for Anti-UIGEA Bill

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HR 2267, Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, is the bill sponsored by Barney Frank, the Democrat Congressman from Massachusetts. This bill seeks to repeal the draconian UIGEA and to legalize and regulate Internet gambling in the United States. This bill has been in limbo since December 3, 2009, when it was heard in the House Financial Services Committee. Frank, who is the chairman of this committee, has been repeatedly saying that he wants to push this bill ahead but, given the state of the economy, the committee has other more pressing financial matters to discuss. Now he has finally scheduled a hearing for the HR 2267 before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday July 21.

This is both good news and not so good news. The good news is that the bill is finally getting a move on. The not so good news is that it may be heading nowhere. There are several reasons for this apprehension. The hearing is only a half day hearing starting after lunch, unlike the past hearings that have been a full day affair. No mark up has been scheduled for July 21. This means that another hearing will have to be scheduled for a vote in the House Committee before the bill goes to the House of Representatives for debate. Also no list of witnesses has been released by the Committee, which leaves the agenda for the hearing uncertain. Another worrying factor is that only six new supporters have signed on in 2010, implying that the support for the bill has reached saturation level.

John Pappas, the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), issued a cautious statement. He said, "We appreciate Chairman Frank calling another hearing on HR 2267. We hope this is the final step toward an eventual vote in his Committee on this legislation before the August recess. The PPA and the poker community stand ready to secure its passage." Pappas has been closely working with Frank to secure support for the bill and he should be in the know of Frank’s plans. However, given the past history of the bill it seems unlikely that another hearing will be held in a month’s time.

Another organization that has been in the forefront in the battle against the UIGEA is iMEGA. iMEGA Chairman, Joe Brennan Junior, was more forthright in his assessment of the scheduled hearing. He said, "Hearings are nice; they keep the ball in the air. What’s needed are votes: committee votes, floor votes. The i-gaming lobby has been working too hard for too long. It deserves more than a hearing."

Meanwhile it has been over a month since the UIGEA rules have gone into effect and there has been no apparent change for the online gambling industry at the ground level. The anticipated prosecutions by the Department of Justice have not materialized so far. Hopefully it is not the calm before the storm.

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