The clock is ticking down for passage of federal online poker legislation – with a great deal of gloom over the subject – while individual states seem to be moving forward with their efforts outside of the federal action.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Tetreault, the current status of online poker legislation in the U. S. Congress has reached a point that, although there may be enough votes for its passage, there isn’t a pathway for said bill to reach the floor. With only days remaining in the current Congressional session, Nevada Senator and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been downplaying the potential passage of any bill, citing the inability to put the bill on the floor in a manner that will ensure its passage.
When asked about the potential for the legislation, Senator Reid stated there wasn’t a “suitable” piece of legislation to team any online poker bill with that would pass the muster of the Congress. Although fellow Nevada Senator Dean Heller has commented that there are “sufficient” Republican votes in the Senate to pass the proposed (but yet unintroduced) bill between Senator Reid and Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, there have been warnings to not put the bill with anything that has to do with the ongoing “fiscal cliff” negotiations that has been dominating Congressional discussions over the past few weeks.
With that in mind, Senator Reid seems to have reached a point of exasperation when it comes to the online poker measure in the Congress. “We suddenly have Republican votes on internet poker, two weeks before Christmas,” Senator Reid is quoted by Tetreault as saying. “Without being vulgar, what the hell would I put it on?” Even if Senator Reid was to find something, they still would have to introduce the bill in the Senate, reconcile it with the bill in the House of Representatives from Texas’ Joe Barton, then tag it to some proposed legislation (known as a “rider”) and be able to have that legislation pass the muster of the entirety of Congress, something that might be highly difficult in the current hyper-partisan nature of the body.
While the federal news may be grim regarding online poker regulation, individual states seem to be moving forward with their own regulations for internet gaming. In California, State Senator Rod Wright’s SB 1463, which has languished in the halls of power in Sacramento, could be re-introduced as soon as next week, pending some changes to the legislation.
One of the major changes in the California proposal will be to limit said legislation to poker only instead of a wide sweeping bill for full casino gaming. It also appears that the different factions in the Golden State – the multitude of card rooms, horse racing tracks and Indian casinos – are coming together regarding the issue after years of infighting. Another important change is that “tribal immunity” is being granted to Indian casinos, meaning that tribal organizations could not be sued.
Meanwhile, the state of New Jersey is also ramping up its drive towards legalizing and regulating the online gaming industry. Last week, New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak revealed that his proposed legislation would come up for discussion in Trenton and could be acted upon rather quickly. Senator Lesniak stated that, around December 17, the New Jersey General Assembly would vote on the issue and that, around December 20, the New Jersey Senate would hold a vote on the proposal. If the bill is able to pass through the New Jersey legislature, Senator Lesniak says that the bill would be on Governor Chris Christie’s desk “before Christmas.”
The New Jersey proposal is a wide sweeping bill that goes further than the current regulations in Nevada do. Senator Lesniak’s bill would open up for full casino gaming under New Jersey regulatory guidance under an intra-state compact, much more than what Nevada’s online poker only regulations (also intra-state) currently cover. Changes to the bill – including the housing of the servers in Atlantic City, a “must-do” part due to Constitutional rules – seem to have won over Governor Christie who, after vetoing the original bill in 2011, has had a “change of heart” and seems accepting of signing online gaming regulation into New Jersey law.
Although the current view of federal online poker regulation seems to be fading into the night, the states seem more than willing to step up and take over and guide the ship. Over the final two weeks of 2012, expect a great deal of action on the online poker and gaming issue before both federal and state governments reach the end of their legislative sessions.
