UIGEA reinforcement sought by groups in 13 states
A new appeal has arrived this week from family representative groups across 13 states to halt the spread of online gambling and strengthen the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
The groups coming from states such as Wisconsin, Kentucky, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Hawaii, Georgia and Tennessee, oppose individual states’ legalization initiatives in light of the Justice Department's change of interpretation of the Wire Act last December.
It has been stated this week by the groups that the Congress needs "....to ensure its clear intent that the Internet not become a giant online casino."
It was added by Kent Ostrander, founder of The Family Foundation of Kentucky: "The bottom line is we are The Family Foundation, and expansion of gambling through casinos or online is targeting one group only: moms and dads. It's an effort to separate a family from its assets. The family is the building block of any society, and yet it is the most vulnerable institution in that society."
He also added that “the added tax revenue to state governments from expanded gambling will be more than offset by the societal costs, particularly if gambling is made as easy as logging on to a computer.”
With that in mind, the groups sent letters of appeal to congressional leaders, in which they noted that 10 states are currently considering online gambling legalisation, and that the UIGEA needs to be reinforced in order to make it clear that online betting is not what lawmakers want.
The letters were signed off by representatives of the Wisconsin Family Action; The Family Foundation of Kentucky; Louisiana Family Forum Action; the North Carolina Family Policy Council; the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values Action; the Pennsylvania Family Council; the Palmetto Family Council in South Carolina; the Missouri Family Policy Council; the Massachusetts Family Institute; the Minnesota Family Council & Institute; the Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, representing 38 organizations; the Georgia Family Council, and Family Action of Tennessee.
