A bill that would have forced Federal officials to decide if online poker should be considered gambling failed to make it past the House Financial Services Committee in June. Instead, Barney Frank and Ron Paul’s H.R. 5767 “Payment Systems Protection Act,” which would have stopped the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) until the federal government defined exactly what constitutes online gambling, was met with a 32-32 vote that broke along party lines, with a few notable exceptions.

All but four Democrats voted to move this bill forward and all but three Republicans voted against the bill (six Democrats were absent, as were six Republicans). Bill co-sponsor Rep. Paul and Rep. Peter King, who wrote an amendment to the bill that would require even more clarity to the UIGEA, were two of the three Republicans voting for the bill. There were also several members of Congress absent from both sides of the 70-strong House Financial Services Committee.

The Democrats who voted against the bill are Rep. Maxine Waters (CA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY), Rep. Brad Miller (NC), and Rep. David Scott (GA). The Republicans who voted for the bill are Rep. Paul, Rep. King, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA).

A list of the Congress members who make up the House Financial Services Committee can be found at financialservices.house.gov/who.html. This page includes links to the member's homepages where poker players can easily contact them, if so desired.

The UIGEA calls for banks to stop illegal online gambling transactions, but neither the proposed rules as jointly written by the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board nor the actual UIGEA define exactly what kind of transactions the banks must stop.

Opponents of the UIGEA feel that banks, which process more than a billion transactions each day in the U.S., will be overly cautious and stop not only the obvious gambling transactions to online casinos but also any transaction that has to do with a card game or sporting event.

Conservative religion-based organizations warned their allies against this bill. For example, the large organization Focus on the Family warned its members that if H.R. 5767 were passed, it would mean America would experience the largest expansion of gambling in its history. It called for its members to contact thier representatives to express their outrage over this bill.

Representatives of the banks who spoke at all of the hearings concerning the UIGEA, as well as representatives from the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board, repeatedly asked members of Congress to clarify the UIGEA’s reference to “illegal online gambling.” Speaking through this vote, the members declined.

What’s Next?

H.R. 5767 is now dead, but there are four Congressional bills still alive and kicking that online poker aficionados and industry insiders should keep their eyes on. They are:

H.R. 2046

Introduced by Rep. Frank April 26, 2007, and also called the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, this bill would give states the power to decide individually whether or not they want to allow online gambling. It’s currently in the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection with 48 cosponsors.

H.R. 2140

Introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV) May 3, 2007, this bill calls for the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study in order to identify the proper response of the United States to the growth of Internet gambling. It remains in the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. It has 73 cosponsors.

H.R. 2610

Introduced by Rep. Robert Wexler (FL) June 7, 2007, this bill calls for certain games, poker included, to be legally defined as games of skill. If passed, poker, as an official skill game, would be exempted from the UIGEA. It remains in the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security with 22 cosponsors.

H.R. 2607

Introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott June 7, 2007, this bill would change the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate Internet gambling. It has one cosponsor and remains in House Committee on Ways and Means.

The Poker Players Alliance provides links to the text and history of all of these bills, as well as state bills, and is worth a visit for anyone interested in poker law.