Frank’s Internet Gaming Bill Gets New Co-Sponsor

Barney Frank’s HR2267 has had no new cosponsors for a long time. This state of affairs, however, changed for the better on Feb 26 when Representative Charles Wilson became HR2267’s 66th cosponsor. HR2267 is also known as the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act or Frank’s bill, which is the colloquial term for it. The bill has been around since May 2009. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) should actually have been implemented on Dec 1, 2009. However, owing to the slow progress of Frank’s Bill, the implementation of the UIGEA was postponed by six months. Frank’s Bill now has less than 4 months to make progress or else it will flounder in difficulties. Frank’s Bill, however, is not the only significant move made toward the regularization and legalization of online gaming in a bid to increase tax revenues. Senators Ron Wyden and Judd Gregg have made plans to introduce the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act, which will support the legalization of Internet gaming. The bill includes a provision that encourages this legalization. In fact, the UIGEA was similarly passed as the provision of a totally unrelated bill. Nobody is sure if Frank’s Bill will move forward before the implementation of the UIGEA; most legislative bills find it difficult to move forward. However factors such as the great popularity of Internet gaming in the US as well as the need to boost tax revenue might force lobbyists and legislators to take favorable steps with regard to legalization of Internet gaming.