On Wednesday, April 2nd, Congress has decided to conduct a long overdue hearing concerning the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA.) The Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology will be conducting the hearing and the meeting will be chaired by Rep. Luis Gutierrez.

The hearing, which is to be held in Congress’s Rayburn House Office building, will be dubbed “Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden without Benefit.” The UIGEA was passed in late 2006, as it was attached to a piece of unrelated port-security legislation that was looked at as a must-pass bill. Due to the nature of the way it was attached, many Congressmen had not even had much of a chance to read it before it was passed into law.

Since its passing, many affected institutions have called to light how unsuccessful the Act truly is. Among the affected parties, America’s powerful banking industry generally seems to agree. If it goes according to plan, this newly scheduled hearing will examine the viability of the UIGEA.

The latest hearing that was mentioned was a couple weeks ago by Barney Frank. Frank has suggested using a program such as the Internet Gambling Regulations and Enforcement Act (IGREA) as an alternative to the currently used UIGEA. Another proposed solution is the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (IGRTEA.) This bill was proposed by Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Florida. Wexler holds that his bill will be a fiscally responsible alternative that would allow the United States to heighten tax revenues. The bill finds value in keeping these currently untaxed funds in the US rather than allowing them to flow overseas.

A live webcast of the April 2nd hearing will be shown by the Poker Players Alliance. The Poker Players Alliance is one of the largest organizations put together to support the abolishment of bills such as the UIGEA. Visit pokerplayersalliance.org for more information on this live webcast and other valuable information on the online gambling legislation.