Online Gambling Bill will see the Light of the Day till October 2009

Sep.17, 2009

Online Poker's greatest ally in Congress, Massachusetts Rep Barney Frank, has reported in to the Poker Players Alliance and informed the group that although he will be introducing new poker friendly legislation in the near future, it will most likely need to wait until October at the earliest.

Citing a pressing need to instead focus on working on national financial regulatory reform, Frank's representatives have stated that this needs to be his primary objective at the present time. In the meantime however, representatives for the PPA will continue to press onward with Frank's second poker bill which at the very least would delay the expected implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act for up to one year from its expected date of December 2009.

In a statement issued by PPA director John Pappas, the PPA said,

"The feedback we got was that it's unlikely that we will hold a hearing in September; however, the door is not closed on that."

However, the group is meanwhile pursuing HR 2266: Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act which is the measure that would delay the UIGEA to December 2010.

For the time being, the PPA seems to be poised to push through with this act than the poker-specific act is this would at the very least buy more time for the industry to wait for more favorable reform.
Originally, Rep. Frank was hopeful for a hold a vote on The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act by this month which at present time has 55 co-sponsors.