U.S. governor’s association underlines the autonomy of individual states
News on 6 Apr 2017
News on 6 Apr 2017
A letter this week from the US National Governors Association Economic Development & Commerce Committee should give new US Attorney General Jeff Sessions pause for thought when it comes to considering his position on the Wire Act and its relevance to online gambling.
Our readers may recall that a carefully considered Justice Department legal opinion in late 2011 declared that the Wire Act covered only online sports betting and is not a general catch-all for other forms of gambling. The opinion encouraged many individual US states to mull the possibilities on Internet operations.
The governors are perhaps pre-empting moves to review the legal opinion by Sessions as pledged in his confirmation hearings earlier this year (see previous reports).
Such a move could be construed as interference in the constitutional right of states to decide on laws affecting issues within state boundaries.
The letter is signed by the chair of the National Governors Association, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and by vice chair Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and emphasises that whilst governors and the states they represent may have differing views on whether to approve gaming, they are adamant that decisions at the federal level that affect state regulatory authority should not be made unilaterally without state input.
“As you review this issue, we encourage you to take note of the current regulatory mechanisms put in place by the states to ensure that consumers and children are protected, and that licensees comply with strict standards of conduct,” the governors wrote.
“States are best equipped to regulate and enforce online gaming. A ban drives this activity offshore to unregulated jurisdictions, out of the reach of state and federal law enforcement and with risk to consumers.”
The issue of states’ rights is important to the NGA, which has in the past sent similar letters laying out its perspective on the issue to federal bodies – most recently to Congress on the Adelson-inspired proposed Restoration of the America’s Wire Act.
