Voting on Barney Frank Bill delayed
As we all know, Congressman Barney Frank of the House Financial Services Committee introduced a bill to overturn the anti-gambling law, the UIGEA, unfortunately the economic crisis has thrown a monkey in the works, because the voting for the law is delayed.
The Bill, HR2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation & Consumer Protection Enforcement Act (IGRCPEA), will license and regulate online casino gambling in the US. Since the bill was introduced in May, the legislation has gathered support from various politicians, Barney Frank now has 35 co-sponsors for his proposal to regulate online gambling. The online casino industry had high hopes for the bill, but now disappointment kicks in, as voting for the bill was postponed until September 2009. A spokesperson for Barney Frank said the hearing for the bill is delayed until the autumn because of excessive workload on legislation urgently needed to address the economic crisis and the administration’s measures to correct it. It seems unlikely the bill will be voted on before September. That does not mean however, that the fight to overturn the unfair anti-gambling UIGEA is over, another fighter against the law is the iMEGA, on July the 7th they have a court case against the UIGEA with the Court of Appeals. iMEGA’s point of view in the case, is mainly concerned around the unconstitutionality of the UIGEA and the vagueness of the rules of UIGEA for the people to understand. If this case will not hold up in court, the wait for the battle to continue will be until September.
