Campbell To Re-Introduce Online Gambling Bill With Frank

House Financial Services Committee ranking member Barney Frank (D-MA) has found a new partner in his quest to legalize Internet gambling and to reverse a 2006 law that outlawed it. Rep John Campbell (R-CA) plans to introduce with Rep Frank a similar version of legislation Frank helped push through the Financial Services Committee in the last Congress.

Unlike in the last Congress when he was chairman of the committee, Rep Frank said Rep Campbell will be the lead sponsor of his bill this year. The measure approved by Financial Services in the last Congress aimed to counter a 2006 law that prohibited most online gambling and barred banks, credit card companies and other payment processors from processing payments for online bets. Frank's bill would have allowed for online gambling in states where it's permitted now and set up a regime to regulate it. A companion bill was introduced in the 111th Congress by Rep Jim McDermott (D-WA) that would have established a system for taxing online gaming, but that measure also died in the last Congress without any action beyond a hearing on the issue.