Rep. Frank's Online Gambling Bill up to Sixty-Five Co-Sponsors

1/29/10 - Casino Gambling Web - View Source

By Larry Rutherford

Lawmakers in the US are expected to resume talking about their Internet gambling laws sometime in the spring. In the meantime, Representative Barney Frank continues to gain support for legislation that he proposed last year.

Since 2010 began, Frank has added two new co-sponsors to his bill that would overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. In addition the legislation would lay the groundwork for a regulated Internet gambling industry in the US.

The two latest co-sponsors are Rep. Charlie Melancon from Louisiana, and Rep. Eliot Engel from New York. The two additions in January bring the total number of co-sponsors for the bill to sixty-five.

Online gambling is one of the top growing industries in the world, and the US has been identified by many as the top market for the industry. The UIGEA was put in place back in 2006, with the intention of criminalizing the activity, but the law as written, is vague.

Lawmakers and representatives of financial institutions claim that it would be nearly impossible for the banks to adequately deny payments to and from online gambling sites. The rules for the UIGEA were set to take effect back in December, however, Frank and other lawmakers successfully had that date delayed until June of 2010.

In the time before June, Frank is hoping to push his legislation through Congress. Although the overall laws for online gambling may be slow to change in an election year, Frank still believes he can delay the UIGEA rules long enough to begin the regulation process for online gambling.