House Subcommittee to Reconvene to Discuss Online Gaming Legislation

After a hearing at the end of October ended on a positive note, the subcommittee of the House of Representatives will reconvene in November to discuss online gaming and the possibility of legalization. The House of Commerce, Trade and Manufacturing subcommittee is led by Chairperson Mary Bono-Mack (California). The next hearing will be held after a meeting of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee which will gather to discuss how the tribes can invest in the potential online gaming boom.

Regulating Online Gaming better than Prohibiting

The interest generated at the October hearing is chiefly due to the positive message that all the legislators conveyed. Joe Barton, the Texas representative and member of the Republican Party, pushed for legislation that would legalize and regulate online gaming in the U.S. He is a member of the subcommittee and led the movement for real money online casino legislation, backed by several witnesses who gave testimony to the subcommittee.

Parry Aftab, the Chairperson of the Board of Advisors for FairPlayUSA, was a witness, along with Chairperson of the Poker Players Alliance and former Senator, Alfonse D’Amato. They testified that the regulation of the online gaming industry was a better option than prohibiting the industry totally in the United States. D’Amato was the only speaker who was emphatically pro-legalization. However, the rest of the witnesses were generally neutral concerning the issue, though they spoke in favor of regulating the online gambling industry.

What to Expect at the Upcoming Hearing

The spokesperson for Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Michael Waxman said that the number of hearings that are scheduled shows that momentum is now building and Congress will have to make a move with regard to the issue.

One of the biggest reasons for introducing online poker room regulation is slowly coming to the spotlight. The ‘super-committee’ which consists of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats from the House and the Senate, whose job it is to suggest methods to reduce deficits are scheduled to announce its findings in November. There has been a huge amount of lobbying towards the members of the super-committee by the poker community. It has been suggested that they introduce legislation which could legalize and regulate online gambling, not only to protect the customers of real money online slots sites but to also bring in more revenue.

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