HR 2267 in Doldrums Again

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HR 2267 is the anti-UIGEA bill sponsored by Representative Barney Frank that seeks the legalization and regulation of online gambling in the United States. In July 2010 The House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Frank, marked up the bill for a full House debate. That move had come as a surprise to most and this led to the heightened euphoria that legalized online gambling was round the corner. Even though the bill had several amendments, mostly regarding sports betting and incorporation of social responsibility, the online casino and poker fraternity seemed satisfied.

Now it seems that the HR 2267 is stymied again. This was revealed by The Hill, which is a publication that brings updates on the various legislations in the pipeline on Capitol Hill. The source of the information was none other than Barney Frank who was being interviewed by The Hill. Frank said that he does not foresee being able to move the bill this month because of the cramped schedule in the House. In fact he indicated that the Democrat House leadership is not committed to bring this bill for discussion on the floor of the House before the midterm elections in November.

In the interview to The Hill, Frank spoke about the other options that he has explored. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate as a companion measure by the Senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez. However that bill has not attracted any co-sponsors so far. Therefore Frank has lobbied senators on the likelihood of moving his bill to the Senate and having the discussion there before in the House. A Senate Democratic aide has independently informed The Hill that the Senate's schedule is also full of higher priority issues and there is almost no chance of any progress for HR 2267 before the election. However he indicated a small window. If the HR 2267 gets attached to a jobs bill it may move in the lame duck session in which only high priority matters are taken up. The reason forwarded for this line of thinking was that the HR 2267 raises much-needed tax revenues and this could be the silver lining.

Barney Frank said that he had tried another option as well. There is a bill sponsored by Democrat Representative Jim McDermott from Washington. The bill seeks to set up the necessary infrastructure to tax legalized Internet gambling and is in the House Ways and Means Committee. Frank has pressed for this bill to be marked up so that both his bill and McDermott's bill could be scheduled for a full House hearing together thereby saving duplication of effort. However, McDermott's office has indicated that his tax bill is not likely to be marked up by Ways and Means Committee before the November elections because of time constraints.

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