Several reports say that with the Restoration of America’s Wire Act—which would ban online gambling—stalled in Congress, supporters of the ban are trying a different tactic.
A “study” bill that would have Congress commission a study of online gambling while instituting a two-year moratorium on any new state adding online gambling is being proposed. The three states that already allow online gambling—New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware—would be unaffected by the moratorium.
But according to reports, the study plan isn’t gaining any more support than RAWA has.
The Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill cited unnamed sources as saying the idea for the two-year moratorium is being floated in Congress, but it is meeting with much the same opposition as the original bill.
RAWA is backed by Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson who has personally financed a lobbying effort to ban online gambling, which he sees as both hurting land-based casinos and a threat to problem and underage gamblers.
However many libertarian groups see the bill as a threat to state’s rights to make their own determination on online gambling and many law enforcement agencies oppose the bill saying it will keep online gambling unregulated and confined to illegally operating offshore sites.
Further, many doubt that supporters of the bill really want a “temporary” ban and see the move as a chance to sneak in a permanent ban, The Hill reported.
“An internet gambling moratorium is nothing more than prohibition in sheep’s clothing,” John Pappas, executive director of the advocacy group Poker Players Alliance told the paper. “They can’t get RAWA through the front door so they are trying to squeeze it through the back.”
RAWA has also drawn opposition from many state sources such as the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, and Fraternal Order of Police. Conservative groups like Americans for Tax Reform have also opposed the bill.
The Hill reasoned that the same forces would likely line-up against a moratorium.
“A moratorium is even more troubling for the notion of states’ rights and the 10th Amendment,” said Pappas. “It would give favored status to those states who already offer regulated iGaming and put the brakes on others who want to provide these consumer protections to their citizens. Of even greater concern, a moratorium does nothing to stop the unlicensed, unregulated overseas operators from continuing to flourish in the U.S. marketplace. It only tells states they can’t exercise responsible oversight.”
