Poker Players Alliance Plans to Spend $3 Million Lobbying Congress

Jennifer Newell | April 20, 2009 at 9:47 pm

The word is being spread that Rep. Barney Frank plans to introduce pro-gaming legislation in the days ahead. And with that news has come speculation from the poker media and beyond as to the viability of a standalone bill in favor of online gaming passing through Congress. The response from the Poker Players Alliance on the issue has been brief but strong. They have support in Congress and $3 million to lobby everyone else.

Once Frank divulged his plans to reintroduce H.R. 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, when Congress returned from their spring break this week, many applauded the upcoming effort but wondered aloud if it even had the support to break through a committee. One of the publications who posed such questions was The Hill, a Washington D.C. policy publication, which brought a fervent response from PPA chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato in the same publication.

On April 14, 2009, D’Amato wrote, in part:

“Liberals and conservatives in and out of Congress are opposed to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act for a number of reasons: It does nothing to prevent children and problem gamblers from playing online; it overly burdens the banks, making them, not the federal government, policemen of the Internet; it costs the taxpayers billions in unearned revenue, not to mention the loss of capital and jobs when these companies are forced to move out of the U.S.; and it’s simply unenforceable… As House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and many Democratic and Republican members know, now is the time to do what’s right for all interested parties, not based on party politics. That means protecting Internet freedom and the public interest through taxation, licensing and regulation - not prohibition.”

Days later, the Associated Press reported that D’Amato said the PPA has $3 million to lobby Congress during the upcoming session. Some of the funds have been collected through the memberships of its one-million-plus member base, and more is coming from the Interactive Gaming Council in Vancouver. The Canadian trade association represents a number of online gaming websites and looks to gain from a possible U.S. pro-gaming law.

While the opposition to the yet-to-be-introduced legislation consists of a number of groups, conservative religious groups as well as sports organizations like the National Football League among them, the PPA hopes to let people know that there is widespread support for the legislation as well, and that backing spans both major political parties. And what the opposition may fail to realize is that there is more money where the Interactive Gaming Council funds came from, as the online poker industry alone has quite the investment in seeing Frank succeed.

For now, all eyes are on Rep. Frank to take the first step in the process, but the PPA, led by Chairman D’Amato, is waiting to lobby for its passage with strength that may not be underestimated for long.

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