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Legislation is Tricky Business

The technique used to pass the wildly unpopular Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is not terribly uncommon in the legislature, but that doesn’t make the process any more ethical. In the case of the UIGEA, Senators Frist and Kyl pushed through this anti-online casino gambling initiative at the last minute as a part of the Safe Port Act. This technique is now refereed to by many as “Fristing,” and has been used in other legislation not dealing with online casinos as well.

Basically, the Safe Port Act had to pass as a part of National Security, so Senators Frist and Kyl manipulated the system and pushed through Congress the anti-online casino gambling UIGEA initiative in a late night session. Because immediately following the late-night session Congress went into recession, there has been no chance to revise or repeal the Act in the last six months. For this reason, online casino gambling in the country is in turmoil and international internet gambling industry is waiting to see what legislation Congress will pass to address the international concern over the UIGEA.

Besides “Fristing,” terms like “earmark” and “Christmas tree” refer to the process of attaching often questionable bills at the last minute to must-pass bills. This problem seems to be increasing in the last few years, and is even an issue at the state level. Though not dealing with online casinos, Florida legislation regarding increasing the number of video lottery terminals in the state suffered from “Fristing.” Florida residents are appalled that the legislation passed, and even the St. Petersburg times reported on the latest in-state land-based online casinos debacles, below is a selection from the Times’ article. Just like the UIGEA and online casinos, HB 1551 gave unprecedented authority to the Florida Lottery.

"On 30 minutes' public notice, a House council passed a bill that would allow 11 existing gambling sites in Florida to add 1, 000 coin- or token-operated video lottery terminals each," reports the newspaper.

"Three affected sites are in the Tampa Bay area: Derby Lane in St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay Downs and Tampa Greyhound Track.

"Backed by a coalition of veteran lobbyists, the video lottery idea surfaced at a time when negotiations on property tax cuts are at impasse, with Floridians demanding relief. The new machines would pump at least $500-million in tax revenue into state coffers each year, which adds much-needed flexibility to tax cut negotiations going on right now.

"…The 26-page video lottery provision was tacked onto an obscure bill HB 1551 giving the Florida Lottery authority to trademark its games. The machines allow gamblers to play a form of bingo against others at the same location.”