Tuesday, May 5, 2009 | 1:02 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Fans of Internet gambling will try again to overturn the ban as Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announced today he was introducing legislation to blunt the 2006 law that outlawed online games.
Frank’s bill would create an exemption to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act for gaming operators that are licensed and regulated. The bill is expected to be introduced by the Massachusetts congressman on Wednesday.
The ban on Internet gaming was one of the final acts of the Republican-controlled Congress in 2006, and its passage created a generation of political activists from the ranks of online poker players. Some say the ban led to the defeat of one of the House Republicans who sponsored anti-gaming legislation.
Once Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, Frank tried to bat back the reach of the act. But his legislation faced resistance in the House Financial Services Committee he chairs, and did not advance.
With an enhanced Democratic majority in Congress, the bill faces better odds. But already Republicans vow to protect the ban.
A spokesman for Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who led passage of the bill in the Senate in 2006, said “we’ll oppose any efforts to weaken or repeal” the act.
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