Senate May Add Web Poker to Spending Bill, Washington Post Says
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s proposal to legalize and tax online poker may become part of a spending package or other must-pass legislation before Congress adjourns for the year, the Washington Post reported.
Reid, a Nevada Democrat, decided against adding his measure to a compromise tax-cut package amid concerns it would undermine the tax bill’s prospects for passage, the newspaper said, citing unidentified lobbyists and congressional aides.
The Internet poker legislation would keep jobs from the multibillion-dollar online gaming industry in the U.S. and empower federal and state governments to tax its revenue, Reid said Dec. 9 in a statement. The measure would help protect millions of online poker players from fraud while banning all other types of Internet gambling, he said.
“Experienced regulators already trusted by millions of Americans will maintain oversight and reputable operators with proven track records will provide a secure gaming environment for Americans,” Reid said.
Three U.S. House Republicans objected last week to what they called a “secretive, closed-door, undemocratic” effort in the Senate to pass the online-poker bill in the final days of the lame-duck Congress.
“Creating a federal right to gamble that has never existed in our country’s history and imposing an unprecedented new tax regime on such activity require careful deliberation, not back- room deals,” Representatives Spencer Bachus of Alabama, Dave Camp of Michigan and Lamar Smith of Tennessee said in a Dec. 1 letter to Reid and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
House Committees
Bachus, Camp and Smith are all in line to be chairmen of committees with jurisdiction over online gambling when Republicans take control of the House in January.
Internet gambling has provoked heated debate in Congress over the past few years. Proponents say regulating online poker and other games would bring billions into federal coffers, while opponents contend that it would encourage Americans to make poor financial choices and could open the market to children.
A House committee in July approved legislation that would legalize some Internet gambling, allowing U.S. residents to place online wagers with companies the Treasury Department has licensed. It has not been taken up by the full House or in the Senate.
To contact the reporter on this story: Molly Peterson in Washington at mpeterson9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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