The Restore America's Wire Act (RAWA) would impose a federal ban on all Internet gambling, including online state lotteries and poker. Currently, online gaming is alive and well -- and regulated -- in New Jersey and Nevada, while online lottery tickets are available in a handful of states.
RAWA is based on the original 1961 Wire Act, “originally intended and long understood as a narrow and targeted weapon to assist the states in preventing organized crime from taking bets on sports.” The Department of Justice’s current position on the original Wire Act as it applies to online gambling is that it only applies to online sports betting; a 2011 decision effectively allowed individual states to decide whether to allow online gambling.
RAWA was introduced by Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate in 2014, in the House (HR 707) in 2015. The only proponents of the Act appear to be Sheldon Adelson and his Las Vegas Sands group, and the Republican lawmakers hoping for campaign funding. The Act was by some reports actually written by Adelson’s lobbying group. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has not hidden the fact that his support of the bill is tied to Adelson’s support of his Presidential run. He introduced the Act in 2014 and his people say he intends to introduce it “soon” this year.
Opponents include casino groups including Caesars and MGM, conservative and Republicans and libertarians, who see the Act as an infringement on states’ rights, a number of Democratic representatives, and Native American groups who point out that the Act would infringe on their Tribal Sovereignty (more on this to come).
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