Heller: Federal egaming bill not dead yet
Co-sponsor Harry Reid claimed earlier this week the legislation would not be introduced this year.
Dean Heller, the Republican tasked with winning GOP support for Harry Reid’s federal online poker bill, has claimed the legislation could yet pass during this month’s lame duck session.
The Nevada Senator was quoted in a Politico article yesterday claiming: “If you listen to Harry, it’s dead… I don’t believe anything’s ever dead around here. I keep telling my side if it happens, it’s going to happen quick.”
Earlier this week Senate majority leader Reid suggested the bill would not progress after failing to attract enough cross-party support.
The co-authors of the bill had hoped to introduce the bill during this year’s lame duck session in which Congress reconvenes after election day until the new term officially begins on 9 January next year.
A leaked version of the bill in November confirmed it would legalise online poker only, with all other forms of gambling bar horseracing prohibited.
Heller’s comments give fresh hope to supporters of a federal approach to the regulation of egaming in the US, including the Poker Players Alliance, which claims it would better protect consumers than a state-by-state patchwork regulation.
However the bill has faced much criticism from, among others, Massachusetts lottery director Steve Grossman, Kentucky Lottery Corporation president Arthur Gleason and the National Governors Association. They argue that all states should have the right to vote on which forms of gambling are legal within their own borders, regardless of whether or not they plan to offer online poker.
Reid has previously blamed Republicans for the delay of the bill. Last month he reignited his war of words with Heller, who Reid has asked to secure at least 12 GOP votes for his legislation. The pair had a public falling out in October during the election campaigns over the same issue.