Fresh anti-RAWA political initiative
News on 15 May 2015
News on 15 May 2015
Five New York State Senate Democrats have urged the state’s congressional delegation to oppose Sheldon Adelson’s attempt to federally ban online gambling, the Restoration of America’s Wire Act currently tabled in Congress and at committee stage.
The New York Daily News reports that the state Senate Independent Democratic Conference argues in a letter to the delegation that RAWA tramples on the rights of states while potentially prohibiting the New York Lottery from offering games online.
The bill would, the Senators claim, also prevent New York from ever joining other states in allowing Internet poker, which they said could generate new tax revenue and create job opportunities.
New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware currently allow online poker.
New York already provides limited online gaming opportunities; the New York Lottery allows players to pay a subscription to play games like Lotto, Mega Millions and Cash for Life online, and horse racing fans can open accounts to wager online.
Sen. Jeffrey Klein said this week that his group hasn’t taken a position on whether online gaming should be legalised in New York, but asserts that this is a decision for the state, not Congress.
The letter to the congressional delegation says in part that the RAWA “usurps New York’s ability to determine for itself what forms of gambling are authorized within the state, a right which New York and every other state has historically exercised.”
