1/19/2012
State Senator Eileen Daily, a Democrat from Westbrook, is not an admirer of the expanding gaming industry of Connecticut, which seeks to help balance the budget of the state.
Daily, the co-chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee of the State Legislature, said, “It just doesn’t seem to me to be the best way to raise revenue.”
She also said, “There are many members of the finance committee who hate gambling and who would not want to vote for any kind of increase in gambling.”
But she concedes that an obvious turnabout at federal level with regards to Internet gambling may soon compel cynical lawmakers to change their positions as soon as the approaching 2012 session starts.
“On the other hand we have to consider the competition from other states,” said Daily.
Daily was pointing out to a decision released on December 23 by the Department of Justice, which is widely seen as clarifying application of a 1961 prohibition on gaming across state borders to 21st century technology.
The justice department was mulling over whether forty-year-old Wire Wager Act prevents lottery tickets from being sold online to Illinois and New York in-state residents. The Act has been widely regarded as an obstacle to intrastate wagering, as well as interstate betting.
But the Office of Legal Counsel of the justice department clarified that it only applies to bets that are placed on sporting events or contests.
In an email, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, said that the federal opinion did not address in particular other games of chance but “would likely extend to intrastate Internet poker.”
