Online gambling hearing coming next week in US House Committee

The House Energy and Commerce Manufacturing sub-panel will hold a hearing on the issue next week, in what should serve as a first step towards ending Internet gambling prohibition in the US.

Representative Joe Barton, a Republican from Texas, introduced legislation that would authorize existing gaming facilities to offer gambling online. Las Vegas gaming companies have recently got on board with the idea, and they are pouring millions of dollars into lobbying for law changes in the country.

“It's a first step to showing why the current law is a lose, lose for everyone - the public, the taxpayer, the banking industry, and the people who want to play poker openly and honestly on the Internet," said Representative Barton about the hearing on Tuesday. "I look forward to an open exchange of ideas."

Representative Barton may be open to the idea of online gambling, but he will have to convince many of his Conservative colleagues of the benefits of Internet gaming if the laws are going to change in the US. It was a largely Republican Legislature that pushed the UIGEA through in 2006, but many of the same lawmakers who voted for that law have now softened their stance.

The economic recession has played a big role in the legislators changing their tune. With many lawmakers on the verge of being ousted in the next election due to the economy, the billions of dollars in tax revenue that online gambling would bring the budget suddenly looks like it could save some of these lawmakers' jobs. The debate next week will center around several key ideas. One is that poker is a game of skill. The economic impact and job creation will also be points that pro-online gambling lawmakers such as Barton and Frank will bring to the table throughout the debate in Congress.

Anti-gaming lawmakers such as Representative Spencer Bachus, will focus on the negative affects that gambling can have on a family. Gambling addiction and underage gambling is surely to be mentioned several times by Bachus.

Another former anti-gambling legislator, Senator Jon Kyl, could help thwart Bachus' attempt to block online gambling legislation. Kyl has posted on his website that he is open to regulating online poker, a stark contrast to when he was one of the more outspoken members of Congress against Internet gaming regulations just a few years back.