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Today, Representatives Jared Polis (CO-02) and Steve Cohen (TN-09) sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees urging them to refrain from including any provisions that would ban or severely restrict online gaming in the omnibus budget bill.

“Congress should not try to subvert the will of [the] states by passing a blanket online gaming ban,” the Representatives wrote. “Closing down state-legal online gaming services would only drive consumers to wager with offshore operators – who can behave unscrupulously with virtually no oversight by any government – and deprive our economy of billions of dollars in revenue. Instead, Congress should focus on creating a regulatory and licensing framework that eliminates the contradictions in our present federal gambling laws.”

“It would be particularly objectionable to attempt to pass such a controversial measure by attaching it behind closed doors to a mandatory government funding bill that will likely come to the floor without opportunity for amendment,” the Representatives continued.

Four states have some legal and regulated forms of Internet gambling, and several additional state legislatures are considering internet gambling bills this year.