A draft bill to ban online gambling in the U.S. introduced no Congress is March seems to have stalled and is now stuck in committee.
The Restoration of Americas Wire Act was introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), but was seen to have really come from billionaire Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon’s Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.
Adelson has been personally backing a lobbying effort to ban online gambling saying it will hurt land-based casinos and encourage underage gambling.
The bill was introduced with nine sponsors, but has not picked up anymore in Congress. It has been moved to the Congressional Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
According to some published reports, analysts say chances are good the bill will not move out of committee as it seems to be gaining little support.
Adelson’s campaign, however, has continued to pick up support outside Congress.
The National Association of Convenience Stores has announced it will back the coalition’s campaign saying it is worried that one aspect of online gaming—online lottery sales—will cross state borders and allow underage gamblers to play.
“As a member of the convenience store industry I’m most concerned with the impact that the DOJ decision has had on the sale of lottery products,” said Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president of government relations in a press statement. “Lottery tickets should not be sold interstate on the internet. Those sales risk letting kids buy them, letting people gamble in states that don’t want gambling, and pulling money and sales out of some states into others. If Congress does not act to pass this legislation, states will open the floodgates to internet gambling and it will become difficult or impossible to turn it back.”
