Online Poker Bill Will Still be PursuedSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Proposed Bill will still Attempt to be Attached to Tax Cut Plan |
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UPDATE: This report was released a short time ago by the Las Vegas Sun: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s staff said late Wednesday that he is still intent on pushing for legislation during the lame duck session to legalize online poker.
The remarks came in response to a Sun article posted online earlier in the day. In that earlier article, Reid was quoted telling the Sun after a press conference that he would not be adding legalization of online poker to his list of objectives during the lame duck session. ‘We’re still working on that, we’re not able to,’ Reid said in a remark captured on audio tape.
‘Senator Reid’s response to the question was that we’re still working on it. The second part of his quote was in response to a question he heard of someone asking about the House schedule,’ said Reid spokesman Tom Brede late Wednesday, a few hours after the story originally ran. The second question isn’t audible on the tape and Reid did not pause much between the clauses, but Reid and one of his spokesmen said that the Senator was in fact responding to a question posed about the GOP’s proposal to do three weeks in session, followed by one week out.
The gaming lobby was in a frenzy Wednesday in the wake of the report. Sources who are big backers of Harry Reid said they expected the senator to at least be pushing politically to bring the bill to the floor during the lame duck session, even if it could not carry enough votes to pass, because after Jan. 1, the issue would be politically dead."
The Wall Street Journal also confirmed that the push for online poker legislation was still being pursued by Senator Reid. Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas is quoted in the WSJ article saying, “Until Congress adjourns I am not saying it’s dead.”
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) was making a strong push during the last few days to attach the Prohibition of Internet Gambling, Internet Poker Regulation, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2010 to the proposed tax cut plan. Those efforts to regulate and legalize online poker during the lame duck session of Congress came to an unsuccessful close earlier today.
The Las Vegas Sun reported on Wednesday that, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Las Vegas Sun after a press conference this afternoon that despite a flurry of last-minute lobbying, he would not be adding legalization of online poker to his list of objectives during the lame duck. ‘We’re still working on that, we’re not able to,’ Reid said.”
Lobbyists on the Hill had speculated that lawmakers might piggyback the online poker legislation onto the tax cut plan currently under negotiation between Senate Democrats, Republicans and the White House, which is expected to come up on the Senate floor sometime during the next few days. This is similar to the way that Republicans were able to pass the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 by attaching it to the SAFE Port Act in 2006.
Some of the main provisions included in Harry Reid’s bill were a 15-month blackout period before any operating licenses were issued. There would be a two-year exclusion period for operators who have not owned or controlled a casino or race track for a minimum of 5 years prior to their application. This means that sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars would be excluded from the market for two years after the first license is issued. There would be a five-year prison term and a $1 million per-day penalty for operating without a license.
U.S. players would also be segregated from the rest of the world for three tears after the first license is issued. States would have the choice to opt-in or opt-out in regards to the online poker bill. Operators that obtain a license would also be required to pay a 20 percent tax on the rake collected on their website in exchange for the license.
This bill may get passed at some point, but it appears to be too little too late in 2010. The current session of Congress is set to end next Friday, December 17 and with the House falling under the control of Republicans next year a bill to legalize the $25 billion industry will be much harder. The majority of Republicans are opposed to the bill, both morally and fiscally.
Spencer Bachus of the Financial Services Committee, Dave Camp of the Ways and Means Committee, and Lamar Smith of the Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last week voicing their opposition to speeding a gambling bill through during the lame duck. Next year, each of those ranking members will be chairmen of their respective committees and positioned to block any effort Reid might be able to spearhead through the Senate from coming up in the House.
The fight for online poker is once again stuck in a holding pattern for the foreseeable future, and attention for legalization hopes will turn to intrastate poker developments. The New Jersey Assembly may vote next week on a bill proposed by State Senator Raymond Lesniak that would create the first framework for intrastate internet gambling.
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