Poll: What path will the US federal poker bill take?
Can Senators Reid and Heller settle their differences and come together to gain enough support and eventually see a federal online poker bill pass through Congress before the end of the year? Vote now in this week's poll.
The future of US online gambling remains uncertain with the fate of a federal online poker bill passing between now and the end of this year hanging in the balance once again.
With US politicians largely focused on November’s Presidential election and the race to the Senate Harry Reid and Jon Kyl are finding it tough going to gain enough support for their co-sponsored online poker bill and “ if this cross-party support can be gained “ face an even tougher time passing it in the lame-duck session which ends on 31 December.
Recent events, however could prevent the bill from gaining enough support to reach Congress, and stall any federal solution for another year. US Senate majority leader Harry Reid and Nevada Senator Dean Heller have publically rowed over when the deadline was to gain cross-party support for the bill with Heller openly criticising the Democrat and accusing him of setting an early cut-off date and also of prioritising Nevada Senate rival Shelley Berkley instead of focusing on egaming legislation.
Reid, who is believed to have gained the support of 45 Democrats for his bill, allegedly set Heller a deadline to secure the votes of 15 Republicans by Monday last week, to ensure a majority should the bill be introduced to Congress before the October recess. Reid needs a total of 60 votes to ensure his co-authored bill reaches committee stage in Congress.
It is not known whether or not Heller has managed to gain enough Republican support for the bill or whether or not he will continue to support Reid’s efforts following the spat.
In response Reid’s spokesman said that Heller had chosen to question Reid’s intentions and “lay blame on everyone but himself” instead of fighting for Nevada and trying to secure his colleague’s support.
We want to know what you think. Can Reid and Heller settle their differences and come together to gain enough support and eventually see a bill pass through Congress before the end of the year? Vote now in this week’s poll on the right-hand side of eGaming Review the homepage.