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Mark Up Scheduled for U.S. Online Poker Bill on Tuesday

UPDATE: Reports from 2+2 indicate that markup has been delayed until tomorrow (Wed) morning.

After a few months of inactivity regarding United States legislation that would legalize and regulate online poker, a flurry of action continued today when another Congressional committee session on the subject was scheduled for Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning, the House Committee on Financial Services will mark up H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, a bill introduced by the commitee’s chairman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

A “mark up” is where a Congressional committee considers and makes changes to a bill before it is voted on by the committee and eventually sent on to the full House of Representatives, should it pass that committee vote. A mark up session in Congressional committees is often followed by a committee vote, although is unclear if a vote will take place right away, or if it could take place at a date in the near future.

The committee meeting will take place Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, had this to day after the announcement of the mark up:

This mark up demonstrates that Congress is serious about moving Chairman Frank’s bill forward and establishing a strict regulatory framework for Internet gambling activity/ The passage of this legislation would be a win-win as it will protect consumers, create an estimated 32,000 new jobs over five years and provide federal and state governments with as much as $72 billion in new revenues over ten years.

H.R. 2267 would unequivocally make online poker fully legal in the United States, if it becomes a law. It would set up a regulatory framework for licensing of online poker and gambling operators that want to do business in the United States. The bill would also allow states to “opt out” if they don’t want their constituents to be able to play online poker.

The status of online poker in the U.S. has long been a gray area, with the Wire Act and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act throwing doubt on the matter in the U.S. However, millions of Americans play online poker, and there are many online poker sites that serve American customers.

There is currently a companion piece of legislation (H.R. 4976, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2010) that would be considered should the Frank bill become law. That bill would make provisions for taxing online poker in the U.S.

The bill faces a long road to become law. If the marked up bill is passed by the House committee, it would need to be approved by the full House in a majority vote, then it would also need to pass a vote in the Senate by a majority before being signed into law by the President.

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