Late last week, allowing online poker was one of several gambling proposals set forth in a Massachusetts State Legislature hearing. On the scene was Randy Castonguay, the Massachusetts State Director for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), who spoke during the marathon proceedings about the importance of regulating and legalizing the internet version of the game in the Northeastern state. Castonguay candidly told PocketFives.com, “We were trying to bring in tax revenue to the State of Massachusetts, which is in bad need of funding.” Let’s recap what happened in the hearing hosted by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.A similar casino bill to the measure presented last year is on the docket once again, along with a bevy of proposals to raise much-needed revenue for the Commonwealth. The PPA boasts 25,000 members in Massachusetts and reacted sharply when a bill that mandated two years in prison and a $25,000 fine for playing online poker hit the floor of the state’s legislature. In his testimony, Castonguay recalled, “Thankfully, the authors of these bills recognized their error when their offices were flooded with phone calls and e-mails from angry constituents and have agreed to pull the criminalization language.”
According to the Boston Herald newspaper, 16 casino bills were discussed over a six-hour period. The media outlet added that one of the biggest applauses of the night in the Gardner Auditorium in Boston went to Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes, who questioned, “How many more paychecks will workers in this Commonwealth have to miss? How many creditors will have to come calling? How many foreclosures will working families have to endure? How many layoffs? We cannot pass up this opportunity to create jobs. This is the time.”
Castonguay stressed the importance of updating the Commonwealth’s stance on internet gambling to reflect the recent explosion of the medium. He noted, “As this Committee discusses the pros and cons of regulating expanded gaming in our Commonwealth, it would also be appropriate to consider the existing internet poker play that is occurring today without any state oversight or control. Regulation of internet poker is not expansion of gambling, it is simply the responsible government response to an industry that exists today.” The PPA estimates that regulating online poker could bring in $40 million per year in Massachusetts, which might put a significant plug in the state’s leaky budget.
Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA, pictured at left), who is trumpeting the licensing and regulation of internet gambling on a national level, calls Massachusetts home. Frank represents its Fourth Congressional District, which includes several Boston suburbs and outlying towns. His HR 2267, which establishes a full framework for legalized internet gambling in the United States, was introduced in May and is up to 62 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle.HR 2266, also introduced by Frank, delays mandatory industry compliance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by one year to December 1st, 2010. The measure is up to 52 cosponsors, but has yet to be acted on one month away from the current UIGEA compliance date.
The PPA has worked in tandem with organizations like the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and American Greyhound Track Operators Association in authoring a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in an effort to stave off the December 1st date. The PPA watched as Frank and 18 other Congressmen issued a letter to the same two government officials also calling for a delay. No update has been given by the organization since.A separate Boston Herald article noted that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts faces a $600 million budget deficit. Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest online poker news.
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