With one online gambling Congressional meeting done, a house panel plans to look deeper into the issue starting this week. The issue at hand is internet gambling and the efforts to legalize online poker.
The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has set a hearing Nov. 18th according to officials, there has not been a list of speakers released as of yet.
The last subcommittee session last month talked about legalizing, regulating, and taxing online poker. Currently overseas sites make millions of U.S. players even though the U.S. government is trying to outlaw play.
The Subcommittee chair in the October session was Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif. And she heard Indian Tribes, coalitions and representatives for both poker players and casino companies. At the time she promised more meetings to hear from state officials and the Commerce and Justice departments.
Poker advocates have called on the House-Senate “supercommittee” on reducing the U.S. debt to add an online gaming initiative among the recommendations. This as seemed to spark interest and if anything can be read into the many meetings now being called, at least it shows that there is clear movement on online gambling in Congress and possible we are seeing a positive momentum set in.
