Rumors that the Restoration of America’s Wire Act—which would essentially ban online gambling in the U.S.—would be attached to a new spending bill introduced by Congress were put to rest when the bill appeared without the RAWA bill attached.
Rumors had surfaced before the bill was introduced that Nevada Senator Harry Reid might have been working to attach the bill, which is being pushed by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
Congress introduced the $1.1 trillion omnibus-spending bill last week. Although the bill included dozens of individual policy riders, the online gaming bill did not make the cut
Much of the stir about the bill possibly being attached came from a Huffington Post article that speculated Reid might have been willing to cater to Adelson. Reid is a Democrat from a state that already has online gambling while Adelson—the owner of the Las Vegas Sands—is a prominent backer of GOP candidates.
But the news website speculated that Reid, who is up for re-election in 2016, may have been trying to court favor with Adelson. Reid will likely be opposed by current Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Reid might have wanted to keep Adelson from supporting Sandoval and possibly even get him to contribute to his own 2016 campaign, the article said.
Reid has also been quoted recently saying he is still undecided on the bill and was waiting for the House to take action on the bill first.
However, several reports say it was actually Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner that nixed including RAWA in the spending bill. Both Reid and Boehner handled the policy riders attached to the bill. Boehner reportedly called Adelson personally to tell him of the decision.
Boehner’s decision comes after a series of conservative opponents to the ban came forward in recent weeks, charging that such a ban would violate state’s rights and is just political cronyism to appease Adelson.
That opposition has been cited as a possible reason a House committee hearing on the bill was recently cancelled and led to speculation that the ban could not pass as a stand-alone bill, and needed to be attached to larger legislation. The spending bill especially is “must-pass” legislation to avoid a government shutdown.
Reports say lobbyists for Adelson have been working hard to have the bill considered in the lame duck session of Congress. If the bill isn’t introduced by the end of December, it will have to be re-introduced in the new Congress next year.
But the $1.1 trillion spending bill is the last major piece of legislation scheduled for the Congress before it adjourns.
“If we can’t get it into the omnibus, it won’t be in anything,” Reid told the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Caesars Entertainment Corp, which has opposed the bill, expressed relief.
“We believe that banning internet gaming is bad public policy from our perspective,” Caesars Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Jan Jones Blackhurst told the Review Journal. “We’re pleased this issue will be discussed openly and not hidden in some omnibus bill.”
Adelson has personally backed the lobbying effort to block online gambling saying it will hurt land-based casinos and cannot be controlled to prevent minors and problem gamblers from abusing the online sites.
Still, three states—Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware—have gone forward with allowing online gambling and California is seriously considering legalizing online poker in 2015.
