Second RAWA Hearing to Take Place Today

The second hearing of RAWA, the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, will be held today by the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The hearing has been titled "A Casino in Every Smartphone - Law Enforcement Implications,” which does not bode well for online gaming supporters.

Recent History of RAWA

Rep. Jason Chaffetz introduced RAWA to the House in February 2015. It received its first hearing in March, during which witnesses associated with Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling played starring roles. Adelson, despite being a casino tycoon, is vehemently against online gambling and has been the driving force behind RAWA.

What Will RAWA Do?

RAWA would place a federal ban on online gambling, which means that even the three states that legalized it - Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware - would need to put an end to their operations.

What Does the Hearing Hold in Store?

The list of witnesses for Wednesday’s hearing has not yet been released, but online gambling supporters fear that online gambling opponents will use fear-mongering instead of solid facts to push their agendas forward.

On the other hand, the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee is a big committee that consists of 43 members, only three of which are RAWA supporters or cosponsors, which means that RAWA still has a chance at being shot down.

It’s Not Just About Online Gambling

RAWA is not only a matter of online gambling; the bill itself calls into question the rights of individual states. As the Center for Freedom and Prosperity succinctly put it in a letter addressed to Congress a short while ago, RAWA “tramples of the Tenth Amendment...further chipping away at the balance between state and federal governance.”

This will certainly need to be a consideration during the RAWA hearing, although online gambling proponents will undoubtedly try to turn it into a moral issue, which is a shaky argument at best.