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Barney Frank’s Online Poker Bill Passes Through Committee

A victory for the online poker community today, as Barney Frank’s pro-poker legislation took an important step toward becoming law.

Barney Frank’s bill (H.R. 2267 Internet Gambling Regulation and Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act), made it through markup today in the House Financial Services Committee.

The final vote was 41-22-1. A full breakdown of who voted which way is not yet available.

To watch archived video of the hearing and view additional information from the Financial Services Committee, click here.

“The Committee’s bi-partisan vote to approve Chairman Frank’s legislation is nothing short of historic”, said Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “With Congress bitterly divided and only a handful of bi-partisan bills coming out of the Financial Services Committee, we’re pleased Committee members from both sides of the aisle were able to come together to advance this important legislation.”

Several amendments were proposed and either added to the bill — which would regulate and legalize online poker and gambling in the United States — or defeated during the committee hearing. One of the amendments that made it into the version of the bill that passed the committee vote concerned who could be licensed to operate online poker and gambling sites in the U.S. The amendment in question bans entities that took part in “illegal activity” after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed in 2006. This would seem to put in question whether current U.S.-facing sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt would be affected. However, those sites maintain they have broken no U.S. laws, and, in fact the UIGEA is a law that regulates financial institutions in the U.S., not off-shore gambling sites. The only other law that could possibly be broken by the poker sites is the Wire Act, and it is not at all clear that any online gambling institution is violating U.S. code under that law.

Here are answers to a few common questions on the matter:

Q: What does Barney Frank’s Bill do?
A: From the language of the bill:

To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for the licensing of Internet gambling activities by the Secretary of the Treasury, to provide for consumer protections on the Internet, to enforce the tax code, and for other purposes.

Q: What does markup mean?
A: In simple terms, markup is the process of a proposed piece of legislation being considered by the relevant Congressional committee. As a result of the process, the legislation is either passed on to the House for a vote or “tabled”, which generally results in the death of a proposed piece of legislation.

For a more comprehensive explanation, refer to the House Rules PDF on markup.

Q: What happens next?
A: The bill now makes its way to the House, where you can expect additional amendments and miscellany to be tacked on the bill. Following that, the Senate will have to vote on their own version of the bill. The two chambers will have to agree on a combined version of the bill that reflects a compromise between the House and Senate versions.

If it passes both chambers, the bill then moves on to the President.

Too many words?

Q: What can I do to support the bill?
A: Generally speaking, you should join the PPA and follow their action alerts. You should also engage in individual activism – tell your Facebook, Twitter, etc pals about the issue in a way that non-poker players can relate to, e.g. “The government really shouldn’t legislate what I can do as a consenting adult.”

Keep up with Frank’s bill and other important issues with our daily poker news updates.

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