Rep Barney Frank Adds 60th Co-Sponsor to Bill

Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) recently added his sixtieth co-sponsor for his proposed legislation that would tax and regulate online gaming in the US. Representatives Bennie Thompson and Adam Smith became co-sponsor numbers fifty-nine and sixty.

Frank’s proposal has been on hold in Congress while the Financial Services Committee—chaired by Barney Frank—deals with the economy. But that hasn’t stopped Frank from working behind the scenes on this issue.

Frank, along with Peter King (R-NY) and seventeen other bipartisan lawmakers, sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking that the implementation of UIGEA’s rules be delayed by one year. The letter stated that they “… believe this is an unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis."

The rules are set to take effect on December 1, but the lawmakers hope to delay the law to give them time to overturn UIGEA.