House Committee Clears Anti-UIGEA Bill
The House Financial Services Committee on July 28, 2010, passed the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act by a vote of 41 in favor and only 22 against. This bill number HR 2267, is also known as the anti-UIGEA bill because it seeks to overturn the provisions of the UIGEA and set up a licensing and regulatory regime for online gambling in the United States.
Though this is only a small step in the journey of the bill, this is the first tangible good news that online poker players have received after the UIGEA was imposed in November 2006. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has contributed immensely in gathering support for this bill and its members are naturally overjoyed. The PPA immediately released a public statement. Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA said, “I’m glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundamental freedoms of adults and the Internet.” D’Amato also thanked Barney Frank for his leadership of the bill and promised all support in the future. John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, thanked the legislators who contributed to the bill by moving suitable amendments.
Earlier there was a minor hiccup when the bill was not taken up for discussion on Tuesday July 27 as originally scheduled. This week saw an unrestrained support for online gambling and online poker from many different quarters. Major newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post carried lead articles. Online poker forums and news sites exhorted poker players to contact their legislators by phone or e-mail asking them to gather support for the bill in the House Committee. Annie Duke, who had testified in the hearing on the bill last week, re-tweeted the message from PPA to all her followers. The message said, “Thank you poker players! The thousands of letters, calls and tweets really made a difference.”
The path of the bill becoming law is a long one. The House Financial Services Committee has to report the passage of the bill to the House of Representatives. The bill will have to be discussed and voted in the House of Representatives. If passed there, it would have to be discussed and voted in the Senate. If the Senate also passed the bill it would go to the President for his signature.
Similar Articles on Fuzion Poker
