Anti-UIGEA Bills Opposed in Indiana
Greg Zoeller, the Attorney General of the state of Indiana, has written to the United States House Ways and Means Committee stating that the bills HR 2267 and HR 4976 should not be passed. These bills sponsored by Barney Frank and Jim McDermott respectively are known as anti-UIGEA bills because they propose to legalize online gambling and set up a regulatory framework for it.
Zoeller is not against online gambling. He is of the view that regulation and licensing at a federal level by the Department of Treasury will infringe on the states’ rights to regulate online gambling in the way they want. Zoeller said that as the Attorney General for Indiana it is his job to ensure that the state is allowed to pass its own laws and “not have them nullified or preempted by the federal government”. Citing an example Zoeller said if a license was issued to an operator by the Treasury, that operator would be beyond the control of the state and even not be punishable under state laws.
The second point that Zoeller has targeted in his missive is the claim that the anti-UIGEA bills will raise tax revenues running into billions of dollars. There are two issued involved. The estimated revenue targets assume that all the states will allow online gambling, which is not likely to happen. More importantly what federal regulation will do is hijack the revenue due to the states.
At least one Supreme Court decision on online gambling has pointed out that if a state explicitly allows online gambling the UIGEA will automatically not apply in that state. Therefore there is no need to repeal the UIGEA at the federal level.
