Tomorrow’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on “the regulation of tribal gaming, focusing on brick and mortar to the internet” has revitalised speculation that tribal operators may be planning their own federal online poker legalisation bill.
Approached for comment Tuesday by Poker News, John Pappas, the executive director of the Poker Players Association action group said:
“I think the timing [of the hearing] is around the idea that Indian tribes are interested in drafting their own legislation. They want to stake a claim to the process and feel that the best way for them to assert their interests is through their own bill.”
Among the witnesses at the hearing (see previous reports) is former Nevada Congressman Jon Porter, who pushed the legalisation issue forward whilst in office and is a PPA ambassador.
The hearing is being held against a background of renewed industry rumours of a Kyl-Reid deal to attempt a federal internet poker legalisation bill in the lame-duck session of Congress after the elections this year, the quid pro quo for Kyl being tighter restrictions on online casino gambling.