After a long period of silence on the continuing battle in the halls of Congress on the issue, a Senate committee is scheduled to take up the subject of online gaming, including poker, during a hearing this afternoon in Washington, D. C.
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will meet this afternoon at the Dirksen Building in Washington in a hearing officially titled “Oversight Hearing on Regulation of Tribal Gaming: From Brick & Mortar to the Internet.” The hearing will feature several members of the Indian gaming community, including Tracie Stevens (chairwoman of the National Indian Gaming Commission), Bruce “Two Dogs” Bozsum (chairman of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, the owners of the Mohegan Sun), Glen Gobin (secretary of the Tulapip Tribes of Washington state), Jamie Hummingbird (chairperson of the National Tribal Gaming Commissioners/Regulators of Oklahoma) and Elizabeth Homer (attorney and former member of the NIGC).
For those looking for a representative from the online poker playing community, there is one scheduled witness on the agenda. Former Congressman Jon Porter of Nevada, who now is a lobbyist for the Poker Players Alliance, is scheduled to testify in front of the committee. Eugene Johnson, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Online Studies for Spectrum Gaming Group in New Jersey, will more than likely be there to provide data to the panel.
An oversight hearing doesn’t mean that the committee involved will be considering any regulations or potential laws. The purpose of an oversight hearing is to examine particular issues that federal programs or governmental officials are acting upon. With this meeting of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the focus is something that should interest all poker players, especially those who play online.
The issues up for discussion during the hearing, while appearing to be wide-ranging, has probably been called to discuss in particular the ever-increasing rumblings in Washington for a federal solution to online gaming and poker. Much of the Indian gaming world has expressed that they aren’t for a federal solution, potentially fearing that their operations will get squeezed out by the big money casino interests in Las Vegas. There is also the potential during the hearing that the Indian gaming interests may be looking at starting their own internet gaming outlet, although there hasn’t been any legislation or programs put forth that would state how this outlet would operate.
This latest hearing is just the latest in what has been a slow trickle of information from Congress regarding the internet poker issue. Last week it was revealed that an agreement between Nevada Senator and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and retiring Senator Jon Kyl had been reached, with the duo trying to line up support for the issue to ensure its passage. Fellow Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, stated that passage of federal regulation of online poker is a “now or never” issue due to the increasing activity of state legislatures moving forward with state mandates on the question.
Currently in Congress, there are only two bills that have been introduced and both are in the House of Representatives (the Reid/Kyl agreement hasn’t been introduced at this point). The proposal from Representative Joe Barton of Texas has gained the most traction, while another bill from Representative John Campbell (dealing with taxation issues) hasn’t garnered as much attention. The two bills, in their present form, would be something that online poker players would have to examine.
The Barton proposal would actually make it illegal for someone to play on a non-U. S. licensed site. It would also only allow for online poker and outlaw other forms of online casino gaming. Usage of credit cards for financing an online account would not be allowed as well.
The Campbell bill would introduce taxation rates not only for online poker providers but also for individual players. Companies providing online poker world be taxed at 2% of the deposits they receive each month, while players would be subjected to the standard withholding tax of 28% on their winnings. Companies would have to provide to the government the basic information of online players (name, address, tax identification number (usually your Social Security number) as well as a thorough accounting of gross winnings, wagers and losses.
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing will be streamed on the internet by going to the committee’s website, www.indian.senate.gov/hearings, beginning at 2:15PM (Eastern Time).
