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 A couple of U.S. Senators have found a way to sneak a bit of gambling legislation into a recent bill aimed at simplifying the country's tax code and responding to a series of tax cuts. Should the bill go into law, the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 would regulate internet gambling and charge internet gaming operators a licensing fee of 2% on all deposits.
Many of the provisions in the act regarding Internet gambling are along the lines of those included in a piece of legislation introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank last year. Senator Wyden originally introduced an amendment as a means of offsetting the cost of the healthcare portion of the bill but later pulled it in order to focus on the health care aspect of the bill.
When a Senator Wyden and Senator Gregg decided to bring back the idea in the form of an amendment Internet gaming lobbyists from the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative were ecstatic to hear the news.
Spokesperson Michael Waxman said, "With so much media focus on the differences between
Democrats and Republicans in Congress, this bipartisan initiative highlights the growing support on both ends of Capitol Hill for replacing the failed prohibition on Internet gambling with a system to regulate the industry, protect consumers and generate billions in new revenue."
The proposed legislation reads as follows, "Internet gambling in the United States should be controlled by a strict Federal licensing and regulatory framework to protect underage and otherwise vulnerable individuals, to ensure the games are fair, to address the concerns of law enforcement and to enforce any limitations on the activity established by the States and Indian tribes."
A Joint Committee on Taxation analysis actually found that regulating Internet gambling would bring in more than a few billion dollars. It estimated that over 10 years, the new legislation could generate nearly $42 billion for the U.S. government. The new bill still needs to be debated in a Senate committee but with any luck things will go over well.
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