BY LAURA MYERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Oct. 11, 2012 | 3:17 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Dean Heller said Thursday he is confident he and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid can work together - after the election - to pass an Internet poker bill this year.
"Absolutely, absolutely," Heller said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board when asked about the chances of legislation despite the senators' head-butting on the issue.
Heller and Reid have traded charges of political gamesmanship surrounding Internet gaming as the Republican battles a Reid-backed Democrat, Rep. Shelley Berkley, for the Senate seat.
Before Congress recessed last month, Reid blamed Heller for not gathering the 15 to 20 Republican votes in the Senate needed to pass a bill. Heller had said the better strategy was for the GOP-controlled House to outlaw Internet gaming - something most lawmakers would support to avoid a state-by-state free-for-all - and then carve out an exception for online poker when the bill gets to the Senate.
The bill could come up when Congress reconvenes after the Nov. 6 election for a lame-duck session.
Heller said he is confident he and the Senate majority leader will set aside any hard feelings.
"I have no doubt when this race is over, Senator Reid and I will sit down and say, 'OK, we got this behind us now, let's work together and get this done,' " Heller said of Internet poker. "And I have no doubt that it needs to get done by the end of the year. And I fully support working with Senator Reid in making that happen."
Heller said he believes there is enough support in Congress to approve Internet poker because it isn't like other gambling, where people play against the house. Instead, he said players go up against one another and it's more like chess or a sport, with the World Series of Poker being aired on ESPN.
The federal government wouldn't collect any taxes on Internet gaming, Heller said. Legalizing it could boost Nevada's gaming industry, which remains the heart of the still-suffering Nevada economy. The Reid bill does call for a 16 percent "online poker activity fee," most of which would be returned to the states and tribes running casinos, with 2 percent kept by federal authorities to administer regulations, for law enforcement and "responsible gaming" efforts.
Reid and Heller have been working with Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to wrangle enough votes for passage.
The bill would seek to legalize online poker and establish a framework for it to be regulated on the federal level. It would open a market for casino companies that have been positioning themselves to cash in on.
At the same time, the bill effectively bans most other forms of Internet gambling, reversing a Justice Department interpretation of the anti-gambling federal Wire Act last December that has encouraged states to explore online lotteries and other forms of Web gaming.
Before Congress recessed, Reid accused Heller of failing to deliver.
"I did not want this issue to become political in nature but I cannot stand by while you abdicate your responsibility as a U.S. Senator representing Nevada," Reid said in the letter to Heller his office made public. "Nevadans deserve someone who will fight for them."
Heller, in turn, accused Reid of playing politics.
"We have a major problem and that is that Harry Reid would rather have Shelley Berkley win this race than have this bill pass," Heller told the Review-Journal last month while campaigning in Las Vegas. "I told the industry that three months ago. And if someone would have told me this was going to happen right before the election, I wouldn't have been surprised. And I'm not surprised. This is all politics.
"No doubt, we're wearing different uniforms, and we will be for the next 26 days," Heller said. "But I have no doubt, no doubt, we get past this election and Senator Reid and I are going to sit down and put the past behind us. Nevada can't afford anything different."
Kristen Orthman, a spokeswoman for Reid, said the senior senator has been waiting for Heller's help.
"We've been waiting for months for Senator Heller to provide Republican votes to pass an online poker bill but that support never surfaced," Orthman said in a statement. "Last we heard he wanted the House to move first on a bill so this change of heart is surprising. Senator Reid has always recognized that this bill is critically important for Nevada's economy and he will continue to fight for bipartisan support to pass this bill."
Heller said he expects a close vote on Nov. 6, but said he'll prevail.
"I wouldn't be in this race if I didn't think I could win," said Heller, who is narrowly leading Berkley in most polls. "It's going to be tough, yeah. I have every intention of continuing in the United States Senate."
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