Anti-UIGEA Bills at a Standstill Says Barney Frank

Written by Tom L | Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

Anti-UIGEA Bills at a Standstill Says Barney Frank In an article published today by The Las Vegas Review Journal, Barney Frank was quoted as saying, “His bill (HR2046) has stalled and Frank doesn’t expect any further action on it this year.”

Shelley Berkley also stated that her bill to study the impact of online gaming was also at a standstill and no more action will be taken on the bill in 2007.

Barney Frank gave little optimism to the bill saying there just isn’t enough support for the bill. Despite this, the Poker Players Alliance stated that once they reached 1 million members they would definately have some power. Currently the PPA is just shy of a 3/4 million members while Frank still only has 36 co-sponsors for his bill.

Barney Frank did say that the WTO sanctions were promising for his bill. According to Reuters today, the US has until Sept. 22 to work a deal with Antigua over the online gaming dispute although these agreement talks are likely to lead past November.

Shelley Berkley and her “Study of online gaming” bill was introduced early this year and has yet to be scheduled for a hearing. In the Las Vegas Review article she was quoted as saying, “We don’t expect to have one this year.”

Berkley went as far to say that she would like John Conyers to introduce his own bill to study online gaming. She would like his bill to replace his. Berkley’s bill has 64 co-sponsors currently.

The new Senate Majority Leader who took place of Bill Frist is Harry Reid. Berkely stated that although Reid does not like online gaming as much as her, she believes he would pass the bill through the Senate. Keep in mind, the last Senate Majority Bill Frist is the one who dogged Americans and created the entire UIGEA mess in the first place.

So while the US online casino and US poker news remain quiet there are still a few things brewing in the crockpot. The iMEGA vs Gonzales case is coming up this month. This case seeks a temporary injunction against the UIGEA.

Anti-UIGEA Bills at a Standstill Says Barney Frank

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