Number of Formal Co-Sponsors for Frank Online Casino Bill Grows

The list of co-sponsors for Barney Frank's bills licensing and regulating online gambling is at forty-eight and growing.

Barney Frank's bill seeking to license and regulate online casinos in the US is gathering support on both sides of the Congressional aisle. The number of Representatives who have formally added their names to Frank's has risen to forty-eight as of this week, showing an increasing desire among lawmakers to be identified with the measure.

The online casino bill and its companion piece would effectively end the UIGEA ban before it is officially implemented, and establish taxation of online casinos that would generate billions annually for US coffers. It is scheduled for September committee markup, and Frank has promised he will not let the bill languish into next year.

Co-sponsoring is the addition of a legislator's name to the roll of those who wish to be known as supporters of a particular act. Not having co-sponsors does not indicate a lack of support, as many bills pass without co-sponsorship.

But legislators often want their constituents to recognize what laws they are supporting, and offer their names in a formal co-sponsoring of a bill. It is encouraging to members of the online casino industry that more and more Representatives wish to be seen by the public as backing the Frank bill, a sign that there is recognition of a powerful grass roots movement behind the bill.

The bill matches with several Congressional agenda, including the need to raise significant revenue and the desire to permit maximum personal freedom. Statistics provided by such authorities as Harvard Medical School verifying the lack of danger in online gambling also have eased legislators' fears about problem gambling expansion.