Frank’s Anti-UIGEA Bills Garnering Support: 13 Co-Sponsors Now

One of Barney Frank’s two bills before Congress designed to make it legal to play online poker in the U.S. again is receiving widespread support from his colleagues, already amassing 13 co-sponsors.

The bill is HR 2266 and it’s called the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act. Essentially it postpones the date that the regulations and penalties imposed by the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) go into effect by one year, pushing the date to December 2010. Presumably this gives enough time for Frank’s second bill (or one like it) to pass before then, subverting the restrictions of the UIGEA by better regulating online poker and making it possible for an online poker site to serve U.S. players legally.

Another cosponsor of HR 2266 is Shelley Berkley (D-NV) who recently introduced the Internet Gambling Study Act, HR 2140. As it stands now, financial services companies must come into compliance with the UIGEA fully by December 1 of this year. That would not bode well for online poker. Fortunately we have representatives like

Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), James Moran (D-VA), and Charles Rangel (D-NY) are the latest to sign on to the bill, joining others George Miller (D-CA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Bob Flner (CA), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), and Michael McMahon (D-NY).

Even Ron Paul (R-TX) the former Republican Candidate for President supports the bill. This isn’t the first time Ron Paul and Barney Frank have teamed up to defeat the UIGEA, but their first attempt, HR5767, was defeated before even leaving the House Financial Services Committee. Immediately therafter, Frank introduced a bill to clarify the UIGEA called HR 6870 which fell by the wayside to the global economic crisis.

Frank’s other bill currently moving through Congress is HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act currently has 26 cosponsors.