Chairman Frank's Bill to Regulate Internet Gambling Reaches 50 Co-Sponsors

WASHINGTON, July 28 PRNewswire-USNewswire -- We are pleased to report that there are now 50 members of Congress signed on as co-sponsors of the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2267), legislation introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services

"Reaching this milestone illustrates that momentum is growing for a shift in U.S. policy and a rewrite of U.S. Internet gambling laws," said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. "The list of supporters will continue to grow as more representatives are educated on the subject and increasingly hear from their constituents that Internet gambling regulation presents the only viable way to protect consumers, since attempts to prohibit the activity have completely failed. We also expect an increased spotlight on Internet gambling as a way to augment federal revenues and help cover the cost of necessary policy initiatives."

Among the bipartisan group of 50 co-sponsors are many senior ranking representatives, including George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor; John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the Committee of the Judiciary; Charles Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means; Edolphus Towns (D-NY), chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Pete King (R-NY), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee; and Ron Paul (R-TX), vice-chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. (A complete list of co-sponsors is included below.)

Rep. Frank's bill would establish a framework to permit licensed gambling operators to accept wagers from individuals in the U.S. and mandates a number of significant consumer protections, including safeguards against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identify theft. Additional provisions in the legislation reinforce the rights of each state to determine whether to allow Internet gambling activity for people accessing the Internet within the state and to apply other restrictions on the activity as determined necessary. The legislation also would allow states and Native American tribes with experience in regulating gambling to play a role in the regulatory process.

An analysis shows that collecting taxes on regulated Internet gambling would allow the U.S. to capture much-needed revenue in an amount ranging from $48.6 billion (excluding online sports gambling) to $62.7 billion (including online sports gambling) over the next decade.

The following is a complete list of Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2267) co-sponsors:

Alaska
Don Young (R At-Large)

Arizona
Raul Grijalva (D 7th)

California
Michael Thompson (D 1st)
George Miller (D 7th)
Michael Honda (D 15th)
Linda Sanchez (D 39th)
Bob Filner (D 51st)

Colorado
Jared Polis (D 2nd)
Ed Perlmutter (D 7th)

Connecticut
Joe Courtney (D 2nd)

Florida
Robert Wexler (D 19th)
Alcee Hastings (D 23rd)

Hawaii
Neil Abercrombie (D 1st)

Idaho
Walt Minnick (D 1st)

Illinois
Luis Gutierrez (D 4th)
Bill Foster (D 14th)

Indiana
Andre Carson (D 7th)

Massachusetts
James McGovern (D 3rd)
Barney Frank (D 4th)
Michael Capuano (D 8th)
William Delahunt (D 10th)

Michigan
John Conyers (D 14th)

Nevada
Shelley Berkley (D 1st)

New Hampshire
Paul Hodes (D 2nd)

New Jersey
Robert Andrews (D 1st)
Frank LoBiondo (R 2nd)
John Adler (D 3rd)
Steven Rothman (D 9th)

New York
Tim Bishop (D 1st)
Steve Israel (D 2nd)
Peter King (R 3rd)
Carolyn McCarthy (D 4th)
Gary Ackerman (D 5th)
Joseph Crowley (D 7th)
Jerrold Nadler (D 8th)
Edolphus Towns (D 10th)
Mike McMahon (D 13th)
Charles Rangel (D 15th)
Paul Tonko (D 21st)

North Carolina
Melvin Watt (D 12th)

Ohio
Steve Driehaus (D 1st)
Tim Ryan (D 17th)

Oregon
Earl Blumenauer (D 3rd)

Tennessee
Steve Cohen (D 9th)

Texas
Ron Paul (R 14th)
Ciro Rodriguez (D 23rd)

Virginia
Bobby Scott (D 3rd)
Tom Perriello (D 5th)
James Moran (D 8th)

Washington
Jim McDermott (D 7th)

About Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative

The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative promotes the freedom of individuals to gamble online with the proper safeguards to protect consumers and ensure the integrity of financial transactions. For more information on the Initiative, please visit www.safeandsecureig.org. The Web site provides a means by which individuals can register support for regulated Internet gambling with their elected representatives.

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Call to sell off more pokies, by Kim Wheatley - News Limited - 1st July 2009

Welfare groups have called on the Government to deregulate poker machine sales - even if it means pubs make a windfall profit.

This follows the stalling of the Government's planned cull of 3000 poker machines, which was introduced in 2005.

The Australian Hotels Association said the $50,000 cap on the sale of the machines wasn't enough of an "incentive" to sell the 750 that were yet to be removed.

Interstate, where the market is deregulated, machines have sold for as little as $13,000 or as much as $300,000.

SHOULD THE NUMBER OF POKIES BE CAPPED IN PUBS? Have your say in the poll to the right of this page and in the comment box below.

While welfare groups and the Opposition remain critical of the Government for failing to deliver on its promise, Uniting Care Wesley's Mark Henley called for the immediate introduction of the open market – despite the prospect of the pubs hitting the jackpot.

"That's better than having more venues, more machines and more problem gambling," he said.

But AHA (SA) general manager Ian Horne said the removal of the machines "had no real impact on revenue, and it's hard to see how it's had any effect on problem gambling".

In a Budget Estimates hearing on Friday, Gambling Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the Government was waiting for a February Productivity Commission report before considering any industry changes.

Opposition gambling spokeswoman Michelle Lensink claimed the Government was "sneakily trying to hang on to the tax revenue generated". (Credit: News Limited)

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