FEDERAL INTERNET GAMBLING LAW MAY CRIMP N.D. LAWMAKERS PLANS

Posted on Sun, Jul. 16, 2006
Grand Forks Herald (GrandForksHerald.com)
DALE WETZEL
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. – New federal legislation may derail Fargo state Rep. Jim Kasper’s plans to revive a proposal to make North Dakota the first state to license Internet poker sites.

The measure, which the U.S. House overwhelmingly approved last week, would ban Internet gambling sites, including online poker rooms, from taking money from customers in the United States.

It changes a 1961 antigambling law, called the Wire Act, to explicitly apply its terms to Internet gambling. It requires the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department to write regulations to block gambling money transfers by American banks.

Kasper said he has not reviewed the legislation, which is a meshing of separate bills introduced by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Jim Leach, R-Iowa. The House endorsed it 317-93. One of its supporters was Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.

Approval from the Senate and President Bush is still needed for the bill to become law. The Senate has not taken up the measure, and may not do so before the current session of Congress concludes at year’s end.

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