Legislation in Florida Introduced to Legalize Internet Gambling
There have been rumors that Florida may be one of the first states that would regulate Internet gambling. Recently, state Representative Joseph Abruzzo filed the Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act of 2010.
The legislation shows a regulated system of Internet gambling in the state of Florida. If the legislation is approved the state would be the first to use the rules of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in order to aid in regulating online gambling. The UIGEA was passed to get rid of online gambling in the United States, but in the last few years online gambling has grown and not shrunk.
There is a clause in the UIGEA that lets states regulate and conduct intra-state online gambling by law. The legislation of Abruzzo takes advantage of the clause. The bill that was recently filed would let operators of Internet hubs to run Internet poker websites. To get a license operators of the hubs would have to be hand picked by Florida and there are strict guidelines in the bill that would have to be adhered to.
First, the hub operator must have a business license in the state of Florida. Second, the operator must be licensed in more than one state. Third, the operator has to be licensed to offer Internet poker in a country outside of the United States.
If these guidelines were met there would then be a $500,000 application fee that must be paid to the Pari-Mutuel Wagering Trust Fund of the Department of Business and Professional Regulations. If the application is approved the operator would have to pay an annual license fee of $1,000.
When the Internet poker website is set up there are stringent rules in the proposal of Abruzzo. The minimum gambling age would be 21 and this safeguards against both underage gambling as well as money laundering. The online hub operators also have to fully insure all of the software that is being used on the site.
Safeguards for the online players have been a main reason that US Representative Barney Frank has proposed legislation to overturn the UIGEA. There are currently millions of Americans that are gambling over the Internet at websites that are not regulated by the American government.
In the state of Florida and person attempting to get a license has to make sure that the player online is protected against fraud. One of the big problems for lawmakers that are looking to legalize online gambling is addiction to gambling and Abruzzo has that taken care of in his recent proposed Bill.
The Internet hubs have to have limits on the amount of deposits and how much money a player is allowed to deposit daily. Also, a limit has to be placed on how much money a player online can lose in a certain amount of time. There will also be a time limit placed on how long a player can gamble.
Another issue that lawmakers are dealing with is the percentage of taxes on the winnings. In the Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act of 2010, Abruzzo has set a plan for 20% of the winnings every month that will go to paying taxes.
If the recent legislation will be passed remains to be seen, but it will depend on the ability of the lawmakers to foresee the financial potential and to come to a middle ground on the differences they have on the issue of online gambling.
Abruzzo has laid out a good Bill that covers all the aspects that makes most bills get thrown out, which may make Florida the first state in the United States where online gambling would be regulated and legal.
