\nHoward Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal \u00b7<\/p>\n
\tNevada\u2019s attorney general said he plans to sign a letter supporting a bill backed by billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson that would ban Internet gaming nationwide and end the state\u2019s online poker business.<\/p>\n
\tThe comments by Adam Laxalt on the \u201cRalston Live\u201d public affairs television show Tuesday drew a sharp rebuke from Gov. Brian Sandoval, gaming regulators and casino industry leaders who were involved in creating the state\u2019s interactive gaming legislation and regulations in 2013.<\/p>\n
\tLaxalt said he disagreed with a 2011 opinion by the U.S. Department of Justice that offered a new interpretation of the Federal Wire Act, which had prohibited Internet gaming. He said the opinion \u201cchanged the landscape\u201d without input from gaming companies or law enforcement.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAll parties needed to be involved to ensure that we can keep consumers safe,\u201d said Laxalt, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\tLaxalt said he plans to sign a letter being circulated by the attorneys general of Missouri and South Carolina that seeks outside support for House and Senate bills that would restore the Wire Act to its pre-2011 language.<\/p>\n
\tBoth bills would carry out Adelson\u2019s goal to wipe Internet gaming from the landscape. The chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. has put big money behind a campaign against online gambling and has argued that making wagers over the Internet is corrosive to society and bad for the casino industry.<\/p>\n
\tLaxalt said he has not spoken to Adelson about the legislation.<\/p>\n
\tNevada has legalized only online poker, while Delaware and New Jersey have legalized other games, including slots and blackjack. The bills do not contain a grandfather clause that would allow those states to continue legally offering Internet gaming.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI intend to sign the letter,\u201d Laxalt said. \u201cWe need to return back to the status quo. Gaming is a different animal. We need to know the sources of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSeveral state legislatures, including California and Pennsylvania, have debated legalizing various forms of Internet gaming this year.<\/p>\n
\tLaxalt said the issue of Internet gaming legalization should be returned to Congress for continued debate.<\/p>\n
\tSandoval said he was disappointed by Laxalt\u2019s decision, calling Nevada\u2019s interactive gaming laws \u201cgroundbreaking\u201d and necessary for the casino industry to grow and prosper.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI am very concerned that anyone representing the state\u2019s legal interests would speak out against current state law in our leading industry,\u201d Sandoval said in a statement. \u201cAt its core, this is a state\u2019s rights issue and I disagree with the Attorney General that a federal government one-size-fits-all solution is in the best interest of Nevada.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSandoval said Nevada, \u201cto maintain a competitive edge internationally, must enact policies that allow the industry to meet the demands of a younger, more technologically engaged gamer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThis is not the first time Sandoval and Laxalt, both Republicans, have clashed.<\/p>\n
\tJust weeks after taking office in January, Laxalt joined with 25 other states to challenge President Barack Obama\u2019s executive actions on immigration. Sandoval disagreed with the action, saying the matter would be best handled legislatively in Congress. In October, Laxalt joined a federal lawsuit challenging new land-use regulations to protect sage grouse. Sandoval said the state\u2019s top attorney was acting in his own \u201cpersonal capacity\u201d and does not represent Nevada in the matter.<\/p>\n
\tNevada has two online poker websites. operated by Caesars Interactive Entertainment and the South Point. Nevada also has an interstate agreement with Delaware that allows online poker players from the two states to compete against each other.<\/p>\n
\tNevada Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo Jr. called the Adelson-backed legislation \u201ca step backwards\u201d and would \u201cstifle creativity and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAlamo said Nevada\u2019s interactive gaming laws have allowed casinos to take advantage of technology used for mobile gaming, wide-area-progressive slot machines and interactive gaming.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAll these things increase liquidity, thus the potential for building revenue for the state of Nevada,\u201d Alamo said. \u201cThe 2011 DOJ opinion was a correct interpretation of the wire act that followed several circuit court opinions and supported our state\u2019s innovative legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAlamo said the current bills in Congress \u201cwill take gaming back decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMGM Resorts International General Counsel John McManus said Laxalt\u2019s statement \u201cis ignoring his own campaign promises.\u201d He pointed to statement on Laxalt\u2019s campaign website where the candidate says it was \u201cfar too often we\u2019ve seen the federal government\u2019s overreach tie the hands of Nevada\u2019s job creators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMcManus said the attorney general \u201cis confused\u201d about what is best for Nevada.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis is a dangerous path, and the people of Nevada should not have to worry that their attorney general will lobby the federal government to destroy current and future jobs in our state,\u201d McManus said.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal \u00b7 Nevada\u2019s attorney general said he plans to sign a letter supporting a bill backed by billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson that would ban Internet gaming nationwide and end the state\u2019s online poker business. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}