3King’s Online Gambling Bill Could Hurt Online Poker, Says Reid
Senator Harry Reid has stated that the latest federal-level online gambling bill, which was proposed by Representative Peter King, might actually hinder online poker legalization in the US instead of taking it to the next step. King’s bill proposes to legalize all forms of online gambling, except online sports betting, in the US.
Reid explained that the bill might not make it simply because it includes all forms of online gambling. All previous federal-level bills sought to legalize only poker, which gave them a better chance of being passed as anti online gambling groups were willing to compromise only if online poker was legalized. Now that King’s bill has put online poker with all other forms of gambling, opponents of online gambling are least likely to support it. However, Representative King is absolutely sure that his bill is the best thing for the US online gaming industry.
Any online gambling bill in the US needs the support of several groups, but King’s bill is least likely to get that support because tribes owning gambling businesses will oppose it.
The US federal government passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988. While settling reservation casino issues, this bill enabled individual US states to sign gaming compacts with tribes. Reservations gave Indian tribes the right to run tax-free gambling businesses or sign agreements with states to exclusively run casinos. Since King’s bill will take these rights away from Indian tribes, they are sure to resist this bill.
States such as Wisconsin, Connecticut, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Carolina, California, North Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming have Indian casinos, and some of the reservation casinos pay large taxes to the state in order to continue enjoying their rights.
Indian tribes are most likely to object to King’s bill as it will have an adverse effect on the rights and protection they currently enjoy under the IGRA. If passed into law, King’s bill will allow states to license online gambling businesses, as a result of which Indian casinos will lose the exclusive gaming rights they currently enjoy.
King’s bill also gives individual US states the right to opt out of legalizing online gambling even if it has already signed a compact with land casino businesses. Governors of states can take 120 days after the passage of this bill into law to opt out of it. If they fail to opt out, federal online gambling laws will be brought into effect in those states. This leaves little time for individual states to renew existing compacts with Indian tribes. This could lead to one of the following situations—first, Indian tribes could be permitted to run online gaming business without having to pay any taxes or second, governors of states can opt out before forming new compacts with their Indian tribes. Besides, the bill allows tribes to opt in even if their states opt out of the new legislation.
In brief, the bill fails to take into consideration tribal interests, which means that it could even be challenged in court, considerably delaying its enactment.
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