Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt supports a federal ban on online gaming and says it is among the few areas where federal regulation is preferable to state regulation.
Laxalt told television interviewer Jon Ralston that he is among several state attorneys general who support Congress passing the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, which billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson also supports and would outlaw most types of online gambling.
Despite a reputation for being a staunch supporter of state control versus federal control, Laxalt told Ralston that gaming is a “different animal” and among the few exceptions to his adamant support for state control over federal regulation.
The U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 issued an opinion in which it said the federal Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports betting, but Laxalt and many other attorneys general say the justice department erred in its ruling, and Congress wanted the act to online gambling beyond sports betting.
Other Nevada officials, including Governor Brian Sandoval, say Laxalt is wrong, and the proposed Restoration of America’s Wire Act would decimate Nevada’s state-regulated online poker market.
