Joe Barton drafting a proposal to attach online poker legalisation to a horse racing bill
Texas congressman Joe Barton is a name well known in the industry for his determined efforts to legalise online poker at federal level, and his name has surfaced again this week in a report in the publication Roll Call dealing with horseracing.
Apparently Congress is mulling a bill in the Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee which would impose federal regulations on horseracing doping and medicating through the creation of a Horseracing Anti-Doping and Medication Control Authority.
The bill has popular support from 125 politicians across party lines but has reportedly faltered somewhat over the thorny issue of states’ rights to make their own internal laws.
Barton’s name is mentioned in the piece as one of the bill’s supporters, motivated by the possibility of extending its provisions by an amendment to regulate and legalise online poker. Roll Call reported that Barton has a “draft proposal aimed at encouraging expansion of internet poker.”
Approached for direct comment, Barton kept his cards close to his chest, saying only: “I am looking at it.”