Where is the Barney Frank Bill? APCW Perspectives Weekly: 19 June 2009

[jetset]

FRANK ONLINE GAMBLING BILL SUPPORT SURGES

50 Congressmen now on the side of online gambling regulation in the USA

Congressman Barney Frank's proposed legislation to regulate and license online gambling in the United States has reached the 50 co-sponsor mark.

HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act has built up an impressive head of steam since its launch in May this year, and is currently on hold pending a gap in the heavy Congressional workload brought about by the international economic crisis.

As indicated in prior InfoPowa reports, there are now many senior ranking politicians in the bipartisan co-sponsors group for the bill, 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.

Earlier independent analyses showed 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 co-sponsors thus far:

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)

[lots0]

Not a lot of Republicans on that list.

Funny I thought they were supposed to be the party of Freedom and Personal Rights/Responsibility... Not the party of moral/religious enforcement.

Like I always said... judge these politicos by their ACTIONS not their rhetoric.

[pevangel]

oops so sorry i didnt read this i posted a new post :so sorry jetset, please forgive. love ya more then my luggage



pevangel

[jetset]

NEW YORK POLITICIAN 51st TO SIGN UP FOR LEGALISED ONLINE GAMBLING BILL

Representative Maffei joins a growing list of supporters

Another New York Congressman has signed on as a co-sponsor for Barney Frank's HR2267, which seeks to legalise and regulate online gambling in the United States.

Representative Daniel B. Maffei, a Democrat from New York, joins eleven other New York politicians - the largest contingent of supporters for the bill - and becomes the 51st co-sponsor overall.

Maffei represents the 25th Congressional District of New York, which embraces Onondaga County and Syracuse, Central New York, and Monroe County.

Other New York congressional representatives supporting the bill include:

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)

[jetset]

FRANK BILL CO-SPONSORS RISE TO 54 (Update)

Democrats from New Jersey, Colorado and Missouri support legalisation of online gambling in the USA.

Three more Democrat state representatives have joined the growing throng of politicians expressing support for Barney Frank's HR 2267 proposal to legalise and regulate online gambling in the United States, bringing to 54 the number of co-sponsors so far.

The latest political representatives hail from New Jersey (Representative Bill Pascrell); Missouri (Representative Russ Carnahan) and Colorado (Representative Betsy Markey).

Congressman Frank, who is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has again appealed to US voters to communicate their desire for a legal and regulated online gambling industry to their political representatives.

[MJackson]

Does anyone here have a feel for how the number of co-sponsors would affect a bill's chances? It seems like if 15 % of members are actively promoting a bill that it would have very good chances of passing. Have bills with this many co-sponsors historically passed the House?

[jetset]

NEW BID TO LEGALISE ONLINE POKER

New Jersey Democrat to launch new bill Thursday

A new bid to license and regulate online poker will be launched today (Thursday) by New Jersey Democrat, Senator Robert Menendez, a member of the senator's staff told the Dow Jones news service this week.

The proposal seeks to create a regulatory framework allowing online poker companies to register in the U.S. and subject to taxation and stringent regulation that includes consumer protections relating particularly to age verification, fair gaming, the prevention of fraud and money laundering, and problem gambling. There will also be requirements to ensure that the player is logging in from a jurisdiction where gambling is legal.

Taxation provisions of 10 percent on all deposits made by players to gambling sites are envisaged, with the proceeds split evenly between the state and federal governments.

One of the most vocal proponents of lifting the online gambling ban is the banking industry. Banks say the existing rules don't define what types of gambling are illegal, leaving them unsure whether to reject individual transactions. In some parts of the country, for example, betting on horse racing is legal, but in others it isn't, reports Dow Jones.

The difference between the Menendez bill and HR2267 introduced in May this year by Representative Barney Frank is that the former applies only to online poker and other "games of skill," while Frank's legislation aims to regulate other forms of gambling, including sports betting and online casino action.

Both bills have been careful to respect the rights of individual states when it comes to gambling laws autonomy.

[jetset]

UPDATE: S 8309, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act

Senator Menendez introduced his bill , and was applauded by Poker Players Alliance chairman, former Senator Alfonse D'Amato, who said: "The PPA is pleased that Senator Menendez chose to introduce his bill to license and regulate Internet poker and include additional consumer protections. His continued support for protecting the Internet freedoms of poker players specifically, and Americans generally, is greatly appreciated.

"Today's action by Senator Menendez is yet another powerful step towards protecting Internet freedom, protecting consumers and protecting online poker. On behalf of the members of the PPA and online poker players nationwide, I thank Senator Menendez for his leadership on this important issue."

Key provisions of the bill include:

• Creation of a registry of unlicensed online gambling operators that will strengthen enforcement efforts of truly unlawful gambling;

• Mandatory implementation of technologies to protect against underage gambling and to monitor and detect individuals with excessive gaming habits;

• Dedicated funding to develop and implement prevention and treatment programs for problem gamblers;

• Mechanisms to collect the billions of dollars in tax revenue that is currently being lost; and

• Clarification of the Wire Act to create consistency in how online gambling activities, such as horse race betting, are treated under Federal law.

[Jeremy]

Our US politicians are idiots if they dont pass this

[footdr]

If the U.S. Gov. gets involved it will be a mess. The last thing we need is their involvement. I don't want them to pass anything. It will just be another reason for them to intrude in to our personal lives and finances.