U.S. LOBBYING DETAILS MAKE INTERESTING READING
24 April 2009
IGN delves into the Lobbying Disclosure Act
submissions for latest numbers
The online gambling industry information publication
Interactive Gaming News extracted some interesting
information from U.S. mandatory lobbying disclosures by
gambling organisations this week, delving into the
submissions made in compliance with the Lobbying
Disclosure Act.
The full list can be seen at
http://igamingnews.com/index.cfm?page=artlisting&tid=11334
and covers some $2.5 million spent lobbying in the U.S.
in Q4 of 2008. Read in conjunction with the recent
announcement by the Poker Players Alliance that it is to
spend $3 million on lobbying in 2009, the list makes for
interesting reading.
Major organisations such as
the PPA, the American Gaming Association, the American
Greyhound Track Operator’s Association, Americans for
Tax Reform, the Christian Coalition of America and
others were active, along with banking, credit card and
offshore licensing jurisdictions.
Prominent among
the goals of lobbyists were issues surrounding HR 2046,
the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act and
its contentious regulations, with lobbying both for and
against its provisions.
The American Banker’s
Association's $91 905 lobbying expenditure was part of a
total of $1 930 000 spent by the bankers in in-house
lobbying efforts across 21 broad issues including:
"HR 2046, Internet Gambling Regulation and
Enforcement Act of 2007 (all provisions); HR 5767, to
prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System from proposing,
prescribing or implementing any regulation under
subchapter IV of chapter 53 or title 31, United States
Code, and for other purposes (Internet Gambling Act
regulations); HR 6870, Payments System Protection Act of
2008; Proposal to Amend Section 10b of Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to aiding and abetting
liability”
The American Gaming Association spent
some $398 000 that was dominated by the $368 000 in
in-house lobbying efforts conducted by Frank J.
Fahrenkopf, Walton M. Chalmers, D. Brett Hale and
Dorothy M. Jackson for:
“Internet Gaming -- HR
6870, Payments System Protection Act of 2008; HR 2046,
Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of
2007; HR 2140, To provide for a study by the National
Academy of Sciences to identify the proper response of
the United States to the growth of internet gambling; HR
2610, to amend subchapter IV of chapter 53 of title 31
Unites States Code, and section 1084 or such code to
clarify the applicability of such provisions to games of
skill”
An additional $20 000 from the AGA went to
Fierce, Isakowitz and Blalock for:
“HR 2046:
Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of
2007; HR 2140: Internet Gambling Study Act; HR 2607:
Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of
2007"
And a further $20 000 to the Paul Laxalt
Group for two broad issues, including:
“Legislation
relating to the gaming and tourism industries. HR 2140:
a bill to provide for a study of National Academy of
Sciences to identify the proper response of the United
States to the growth of Internet gambling. HR 2046: A
bill to amend title 31, United States Code, to provide
for the licensing of Internet gambling facilities by the
Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network,
and for other purposes”
PartyGaming major
shareholders Ruth Parasol and husband Russ DeLeon paid
$75 000 to Sharp and Barnes, LLP to lobby on the
“Legality of Internet Gaming and UIGEA”, whilst UK
gambling group Sportingbet forked out $20 000 to
Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP for: “Settlement of
potential issues related to online gambling.”
The
article constitutes an interesting study of the
interaction between American business and the taxpayers'
political representatives, especially concerning the
deeply divided opinions regarding the online gambling
sector in the United States.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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