A U.S. Virgin Islands senate committee today decided to hold back proposed interactive gambling legislation until changes to the proposed policy are made.
The Senate Committee for Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection will
discuss the bill, No. 24-0046, again May 7.
A spokesman for Senate President Alamando "Rocky" Liburd, one of the bill's sponsors, indicated that the committee will review comments from today's meeting while putting together amendments. Changes will likely include work on the regulatory structure, taxation issues and the issuance of a "Master Franchiser" license.
"The overall feeling is that we need to take whatever steps are necessary to develop regulations strong enough to be above board," spokesman Rudy Krigger said.
After the May 7 hearing, the bill will likely be sent to the Rules Committee, where it could be amended once more before heading for a vote in the Senate. Krigger suggested that the legislation could be enacted
by June of this year.
"We wanted to get (the bill) out quickly for debate," Krigger explained. "We want to be poised to be on the ground floor (once it's clearly legal to offer Internet gambling services from the Virgin Islands)."
Whether it will be legal to accept wagers from Americans has yet to be determined. Krigger indicated that the issue needs to be "ironed out."
The Virgin Islands territorial government faces a similar dilemma as Nevada does in developing an interactive gambling regulatory model. As gaming law professor I. Nelson Rose points out, if the Virgin Islands offers interactive gambling only to residents of the territory, it's purely an intra-state matter. But, if they allow sites in the territory to accept wagers from residents of other American states and territories, then the terms of the Interstate Wire Act would be violated, and the Virgin Islands' government could "risk FBI intervention."
The crux of the matter is whether the Wire Wager Act actually prohibits games of chance or only prohibits sports wagering activities.