US lawmakers have scheduled a hearing for December 9 to discuss the future of the anti-online gambling bill known as the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA).
If passed into law, RAWA would overturn the Department of Justice’s 2012 ruling that overturned the old US Wire Act and, essentially, put the power to legalize online gambling in the hands of the states.
The measure will be given an airing out by the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and is titled, “A Casino in Every Smartphone – Law Enforcement Implications.” That gives a pretty clear signal that Congress’ online gambling haters have set their focus on the perceived dangers of mobile casino gambling.
Anyone who expects the igaming industry to get a fair opportunity to air out facts to an objective panel of lawmakers will, likely, be in for a disappointment. The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform which is headed up by Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz (pictured above), who has proved himself to be anything but an objective thinker when it comes to gambling, or just about anything else.
Chaffetz is both a major opponent of online gambling, and the beneficiary of significant campaign donations by billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. You might also remember him as the Congressman who badgered Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards last fall with doctored statistics and a very bad attitude.
If past RAWA hearings are any indication, next week’s event will lean heavily on witnesses who oppose online gambling. Online gambling proponents who are called to testify can expect plenty of lecturing from Chaffetz, but little opportunity to actually state their cases.
That said, the chances of RAWA actually passing into law seem pretty slim as the current US Congress is one of the most incompetent, and ineffective, lawmaking bodies the US has ever seen. As of this writing the 114th is poised to pass fewer bills into law than any of its predecessors.