Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - Annie Duke
I just got back from DC from yet another lobbying trip. But this time I combined it with a vacation with the kids to explore the seat of our nation. I have been to Washington so many times but never during the summer months when the kids are out of school. As soon as the PPA contacted me and asked me if I would be willing to come out and lobby during National Poker Week I thought, “Awesome! I can take the kids with me this time!” And so I did that. The kids got to see a bit of what Mom does when she is in DC but they also got a great vacation trip, experiencing The Smithsonians, The Capital Dome Tour, The Floor of the House of Representatives and all sorts of other cool crap.
So first the lobbying. The Poker issue is really seeing some movement now. Granted, the Health Care Legislation is slowing things up a little right now as Congress is focused on matters that are certainly more important than the poker legislation. But I felt a real difference in the legislators on this issue. On this trip there was much less educating of members on the issue and why it is important, something we had to do a lot of over the past couple of years. This year seemed to be more talking of attack plans, how to get legislation moving forward and how to get other programs paid for using the poker revenue. The $3 billion to $10 billion dollar tax base that would be generated from taking and regulating the poker industry was definitely creating a lot of buzz on The Hill as Members are needing to find ways to pay for the health care program. That much tax revenue is attractive to a country in financial crisis and is most likely one of the big reasons that the support for poker is much more bi-partisan.
There are a few pieces of legislation swirling around Capitol Hill. The first is a piece of legislation that would delay the regulations for UIGEA being put into effect. Those regs are set to go into effect in January. What Rep. Frank is asking for is that that deadline be delayed while a court decides what is or is not legal under UIGEA. The problem is that UIGEA, while admonishing payment processors that they cannot process illegal transactions, does not define what is a legal or illegal activity. HR 2166 would ask the courts to define what is legal so there is clarity on that issue. Put poker up in a court of law and we will take the chance that it will be determined a game of skill and, therefore, a legal activity. I am happy to hang my hat on the courts on this one.
HR 2167 is the full on legalization and regulation of Internet Gaming in all its forms except for sports betting. This bill would put a system in place similar to the system they have in England and 25 other countries already. It would create a licensing process for online gaming companies so they could legally operate in the US. Along with this would come better consumer protection measures and majority verification measures as licensed companies would have to use best efforts to comply on those issues. It is what the companies want and what the consumers want. There is also a bill on the Senate side from Sen. Menendez that would license peer to peer games of skill only…lucky for us, poker falls in that category.
I came away from this trip the most optimistic I have been from any lobbying trip. Hopefully, I am not just being a Pollyanna
In my next blog I will post pictures of all the cool crap we saw at the Smithsonians.
Annie
Tags: Annie Duke, Congress, HR 2166, HR 2167, national poker week, poker legislation, Poker Poker Poker, Smithsonians, uigea, Washington
Comments (3)
Monday, June 22, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The Poker Players Alliance held a press conference this morning to announce some new initiatives and discuss the current legislative state of affairs. PPA Executive Director John Pappas discussed three recently-launched websites that should help further the PPA’s grass-roots recruitment of poker players to the cause:
- The PPA announced that July 19-25 will be National Poker Week. At least 35 PPA State Directors and several well-known poker players (including Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Dennis Phillips) will be in Washington, D.C. to visit with member of Congress and ask them to support the legalization of online poker. There will also be a charity poker tournament (benefitting the USO and Walter Reed Hospital) and other poker-related activities. So if you have some free time in mid-July, or happen to find yourself in our nation’s capital during that time, mark your calendars.
- During National Poker Week PPA representatives will also deliver a petition to President Barack Obama, which you can sign yourself at PokerPetition.com. All you need to do is enter your name, email, and address, and your name will be added to the petition. Pappas said they’re hoping the number of signers is in six-figures–maybe seven–when the petition is presented to the President.
- If you’d like to make a more personal statement about poker you can visit My Poker Story and upload a video describing why you play and love the game. A lot of people are passionate about the game (and passionate about their right to PLAY the game) and a brief video explaining how that fervor came to be adds a personal touch to this unnecessarily contentious issue.
Pappas said that there may be additional legislative initiatives introduced before the start of National Poker Week; he said that Senator Robert Menendez may re-introduce his bill to legalize online poker (his is a more narrowly-defined bill than Representative Barney Frank’s House bill). Rep. Frank may hold a hearing on H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, & Enforcement Act of 2009 (whew) which would give online poker’s legislative defenders a chance to debate their opponents in public. And further sway public opinion in poker’s direction.
PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato was at the press conference (and as we speak he’s playing in today’s Senior’s Event, his first WSOP tournament) and said that the legislative effort is going forward and that while Rep. Frank’s bill might need “some tweaking” before it comes out of committee he’s confident that they have a piece of legislation that will eventually end up on the President’s desk for signature. And while it may seem odd that poker players need to pull the levers of government in order to get the government to treat us fairly, that’s politics for you. “Big Brother government should not tell you what you can do online,” D’Amato said emphatically. “We should be allowed to do what we want online without the arm of the government intervening.”
D’Amato’s words were echoed by U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley, who serves Las Vegas in the House. “That legislation (the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was an affront to every freedom-loving American,” she said. She also said that it’ll take more than a handful of politicians to wipe the UIGEA off the books. “The only way (Rep. Frank’s) legislation will pass is if we stand up and get involved. Politics is not a spectator sport”.
And there are ways for you to get involved in the process. Sign the petition (I just did, it takes ten seconds). Upload a video, if you have mad camcorder skillz. Rep. Berkley recommended sending your Congresspeople emails in lieu of a written letter (will arrive instantly and is far more likely to be read). And ask your poker-playing friends (or friends who think that adults should be free to live without onerous goverment interference) to do the same. The UIGEA passed in large part because a small group of very vocal people convinced a handful of politicians to subvert the legislative process. To defeat them we need an army of freedom-loving citizens to stand up and be counted. Do your part, and stand up.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, barney frank, barney frank legislation, barney frank poker, poker laws, poker legislation, poker players alliance, ppa, uigea, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (1)
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Last Tuesday saw the inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President. The major thrust of Obama’s campaign was change–and after eight years of George W. Bush running things that was rather an obvious tack to take. Immediately after taking office the new President signed a number of executive orders reversing policies established by the previous Administration, and all this righting-the-ship and steadying-the-rudder no doubt has poker players hoping that the down the road some sanity might return vis-a-vis the government’s stance on the game.
It’s doubtful that poker is high on Obama’s list of priorities, what with the economy and Iraq and Afghanistan and other nightmarish problems to deal with. But there has been quite a bit of news on the legal and legislative front the past week or so that shows that the tide maybe be slowly shifting back in poker’s favor.
First, the bad news–on Monday, January 19th, the rules governing Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) went into effect. Over two years after the UIGEA was tacked onto the Safe Port Act at the last minute and voted into law, the rules governing the UIGEA were finally issued on November 12th. They did not formally go into effect until the day before Obama was inaugurated, which was hardly a coincidence. These rules put the onus on financial institutions to identify and block transactions to internet gaming sites…although the rules STILL do not define what is and isn’t an internet gaming site, nor which transactions specifically are to be blocked. Which is not the sort of ambigious witch-hunting that beleagured financial companies need to waste time on these days.
However, there are ways wherein these rules might be rendered moot. The big gun is the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to reverse or cancel regulations made by the previous Administration within 90 days of their enactment. President Bush didn’t have much need of the Act because the Clinton Administration put forth it’s new rules in it’s last few weeks, so President Bush was able to rescind them without Congressional help. He hoped to avoid his own rules being swept away by the new President by enacting them more than 60 days before he left office, but the Congressional Review Act gives legislators a bigger window to work with. And it’s big enough to go after new regulations the Bush Administration passed that allowed for uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, that made it easier for coal companies to dump debris in nearby streams and valleys…and that required banks to block transactions to internet gaming sites.
Typically it’s a good thing politically to make the tent as big as possible and get as many people on your side. Having enviromental groups and civil rights advocates standing shoulder-to-shoulder with poker players would be a good thing. The problem is that to reverse regulations using the Congressional Review Act, every single regulation has to be debated and voted on separately. That could take an awfully long time, and Congress’s attention might be better served focusing on the colossal problems (economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc) we currently face. To get around that problem, Representative Jerrod Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Midnight Rule Act, which would give Cabinet secretaries more latitude in rewriting regulations created in the final 90 days of the previous Administration.
There are some problems facing the passage of this bill–it would have to be passed FAST to so that the changes could be made within the 90-day window. And Congress has a lot on it’s legislative plate right now–getting this bill up for a vote might not be a priority. It could also be filibustered by Republicans in Congress. And while I like the whole checks-and-balances part of our government, this might put a bit too much power in the hands of those able to re-write and rescind regulations. I don’t think laws should be written in stone, but they shouldn’t be written in sand either. Something for the constitutional scholars among us to mull over.
Maybe it’s unlikely that the UIGEA rules will be reversed. And maybe it’s unlikely that we’ll see a repeal of the UIGEA this year and online poker finally legalized and legitimatized. But as you can see there are powerful forces at work, both inside and outside of government, that want to see the laws governing poker changed. Of course, there are still powerful forces opposing poker–during Attorney General-designate Eric Holder’s confirmation hearings, Sen. John Kyl (perhaps online gaming’s most implacable Congressional foe) asked Holder the following:
The question that I’d ask and wanted just to get confirmed for the record is that you indicated that under your leadership, the Department of Justice would continue to aggressively enforce the law against the forms of internet gambling that DOJ considers illegal
Somehow understanding the question despite Kyl’s tortured syntax, Holder replied that he would enforce the law. Which makes sense–as the nation’s top law-enforcement official it would’ve been very odd had Holder replied, “Nah, don’t like that law, think I’ll give it a miss”. Of course the Attorney General will enforce the laws on the books. Whether Holder will “aggressively” enforce the UIGEA, or whether he’ll focus his attention on more serious matters, remains to be seen.
So that’s what’s up on the on the federal level. In another post I’ll talk about the legal battles being waged at the state and local level. But I think this is enough talk about Congress and legislation and John Kyl for one day. Especially a Sunday.
Tags: barack obama, change.gov, eric holder, john kyl, obama inauguaration, obama poker, obama uigea, online poker laws, online poker legislation, online poker regulations, poker laws, poker legislation, Poker Poker Poker, ub, ub blog, uigea, unlawful internet gambling enforcement act
Comments (1)
