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By Kyle Cheney/State House News Service
Boston —A Republican lawmaker’s plan to explore the introduction of Internet poker in Massachusetts provoked a fierce rejection Friday from Treasurer Steven Grossman, who called the plan “reckless and irresponsible,” as well as a violation of federal law.
“I did not want to let it go even one news cycle without expressing how strongly I feel about the recklessness and irresponsibility,” Grossman told the News Service in a phone interview just hours after the proposal was unveiled.
The plan, an amendment to expanded gambling legislation filed just before a 3 p.m. deadline by Rep. Daniel Winslow, R-Norfolk, would charge a gambling commission with developing legislation to sanction up to five Internet poker operations. The commission would be charged with drafting regulations to oversee the online poker industry, including provisions to restrict players from jurisdictions where online poker is banned and to ensure that online operations comport with federal law.
The amendment calls on the gaming commission to, by July 1, 2012, analyze and prepare model legislation and regulations that achieve certain minimum requirements. The proposal would then be subject to a public legislative hearing.
The sudden sparring between Grossman, a former state and national Democratic Party chairman, and Winslow, former legal counsel and campaign adviser to Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, features two veteran political operatives who are both in their first terms in state offices. Both have been eyed by colleagues as potential candidates for higher office – Grossman has previously run for governor.
Grossman – who as treasurer oversees the state Lottery – relentlessly panned Winslow’s plan, taking exception to its filing on Friday afternoon and contending that Winslow never attempted to contact him or any other gaming leader in Massachusetts, and he suggested that Winslow’s plan would undercut the value of three casino licenses that would be put out to bid in under pending gaming legislation.
Read entire article here.
Boston —A Republican lawmaker’s plan to explore the introduction of Internet poker in Massachusetts provoked a fierce rejection Friday from Treasurer Steven Grossman, who called the plan “reckless and irresponsible,” as well as a violation of federal law.
“I did not want to let it go even one news cycle without expressing how strongly I feel about the recklessness and irresponsibility,” Grossman told the News Service in a phone interview just hours after the proposal was unveiled.
The plan, an amendment to expanded gambling legislation filed just before a 3 p.m. deadline by Rep. Daniel Winslow, R-Norfolk, would charge a gambling commission with developing legislation to sanction up to five Internet poker operations. The commission would be charged with drafting regulations to oversee the online poker industry, including provisions to restrict players from jurisdictions where online poker is banned and to ensure that online operations comport with federal law.
The amendment calls on the gaming commission to, by July 1, 2012, analyze and prepare model legislation and regulations that achieve certain minimum requirements. The proposal would then be subject to a public legislative hearing.
The sudden sparring between Grossman, a former state and national Democratic Party chairman, and Winslow, former legal counsel and campaign adviser to Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, features two veteran political operatives who are both in their first terms in state offices. Both have been eyed by colleagues as potential candidates for higher office – Grossman has previously run for governor.
Grossman – who as treasurer oversees the state Lottery – relentlessly panned Winslow’s plan, taking exception to its filing on Friday afternoon and contending that Winslow never attempted to contact him or any other gaming leader in Massachusetts, and he suggested that Winslow’s plan would undercut the value of three casino licenses that would be put out to bid in under pending gaming legislation.
Read entire article here.