Reports Claim Online Poker Amendment Will Be Added to Payroll Tax Bill

If reports are true, lawmaker may try to backdoor an online poker bill via the payroll tax bill currently being debated in Congress. The payroll tax cuts, along with added unemployment benefits, are currently scheduled to expire at the end of the month.

Earlier today, an article on The Daily Helmsman claimed that a source was informed that “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to propose an online gaming amendment to the Senate’s unemployment payroll tax bill this month.” Later, @GlobalGamingBiz on twitter reported that “”Source: NV Gov. Sandoval calls top casino execs and tells them of agreement between Reid & Kyl, adding internet poker to payroll tax bill.”

Details on the amendment are not know at this time, but if reports are true, one has to wonder what type of impact that this amendment would have on the bill and whether it would actually make its way through. Negotiations on the bill in its current form are already going so poorly that the bill may not go through.

As many may remember, the UIGEA was backdoored into law after being added to the SAFE Port Act in 2006. It would be ironic if online poker legalization would happen in a similar fashion. However, considering that the amendment seems to have really very little to do with the overall legislation and Republican’s unwillingness to work on solutions to important issues, it is hard to believe that this amendment has much of a chance.

We will keep you updated on this story once we have more details.