On Friday, June 20, major news broke from Capitol Hill. The House Financial Services Committee announced that it will mark up HR 5767 to tomorrow, June 24th, at 10:00am ET. Now dubbed the “Payments System Protection Act” according to the Committee website, the bill is co-sponsored by Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) and would prohibit the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve from enforcing the UIGEA. In the mark up session, amendments will be added to the existing text of the legislation and any revisions can be made and discussed. It’s been a long time coming since a Committee hearing back in April. PocketFives.com sat down with Michael Waxman, Spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, and John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Allaince, about the latest news.

Waxman was elated that the Committee was set to mark up the bill next week: “This is an acknowledgement that there’s no way, given the freedom of the internet, you’ll be able to stop people from gambling online. Millions of people continue to do so. It’s an acknowledgement that it is a burden to turn to the U.S. Financial Services industry to be the police and stop people from gambling online. Back in April, we had a hearing where representatives from the Financial Services Committee said that this would be a burden and it’s unlikely that we can stop people from gambling online. Regulators said they didn’t feel that this would be a law that is enforceable. We’re encouraged that Congress is taking the next step to change course and develop a smarter approach.”

Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas, whose lobbying group has been hard at work fighting for the rights of online poker players on Capitol Hill, commented to PocketFives.com: “We are pleased that the Committee will have a serious discussion and vote on the merits of the UIGEA. The PPA and others have continued to say that UIGEA was poorly written public policy doomed for failure. It is now becoming even clearer how unworkable and burdensome this law has become. Stopping UIGEA in its tracks is the right first step towards responsible regulation of Internet poker. We hope the full Committee will vote unanimously for H.R. 5767.”

HR 5767 is up to 20 co-sponsors, including Neil Abercrombie and Stephen Lynch, who signed on June 19th. Here’s a look at the current roster of co-sponsors along with the Congressional district they represent and the date they became a co-sponsor:

Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] - 6/19/2008
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 4/24/2008
Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 5/15/2008
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 4/24/2008
Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8] - 5/15/2008
Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] - 5/15/2008
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 4/24/2008
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 5/22/2008
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 4/24/2008
Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 5/15/2008
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 4/24/2008
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 4/24/2008
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 4/24/2008
Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 6/19/2008
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 4/24/2008
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 4/24/2008
Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] - 4/10/2008
Rep Perlmutter, Ed [CO-7] - 5/15/2008
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 5/22/2008
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 4/24/2008

Waxman added, “I believe that Chairman Barney Frank has brought this bill forward because he believes that there is support for the legislation. At the hearing, we saw members on both sides of the aisle asking good questions. We hope that they’re in a position to address their concerns.” The length of time that the bill would take to reach the House floor is up in the air. With 2008 being an election year, there is a limited amount of time left until members adjourn to begin campaigning.

Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for all of the latest news on the legislative front. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, check out the Poker Legislation Forum.