The Congressional Review Act

Nate tha\\\' Great · #1 11-09-2006, 11:04 PM

I finally found some good source material on the process by which new regulations are drafted once a bill (such as the UIGEA) is passed.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/w...lfedregs_c.htm

In general, once a bill is passed by Congress and signed by the President, authority for drafting and enforcing regulations transfers from the Legislative Branch to agencies within the Executive Branch. In this case, I believe the relevant agency is the Federal Reserve.

However, Congress does retain the right of review, both in informal ways and in formal ways as codified by the Congressional Review Act. In fact, there is actually a backdoor way to kill the bill. Specifically, a "Resolution of Disapproval" can be introduced into each chamber. If this resolution passes both the House and the Senate, and the President signs the bill, then the bill is effectively killed.

Now, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. The Congressional Review Act has been successfully enacted exactly once, and that was in regards to a piece of legislation that had barely passed through the Congress. Interesting find, though.

fnord_too · #2 11-10-2006, 02:09 AM

Nate,

My congressman is Bobby Scott (VA 3d). Here's a bit from his site:

[ QUOTE ]
Rep. Scott serves on the House Judiciary Committee where he is the lead Democrat on the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and a member of the Constitution subcommittee. After taking a leave of absence in the 108th congress to serve on the House Budget Committee, Rep. Scott has returned to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce

[/ QUOTE ]

He will be chairing that subcommittee on crime, terrorism, and homeland security. According to a blurb in our local paper, online gambling is one of the things they discuss in it. I don't know where he stands on internet gambling, and I am too tired to look up his voting record on it now, but he seems to be a pretty sharp guy and is really well spoken. Also, he is completely unopposed in his district, which may or may not matter. I'll try to shoot him an email next week and ask him his position on the issue.

Uglyowl · #3 11-10-2006, 04:03 AM

Thanks Nate for the information.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know where he stands on internet gambling

[/ QUOTE ]

BTW, Robert Scott voted against HR4411

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/c...e/2/votes/363/

whangarei · #4 11-10-2006, 07:12 AM

Good find, Nate.

Anyone live in Barney Frank's district want to send him an email to see what he is planning re: the UIGEA regs? He will be chairman of the Financial Services Committee. It would be sweet if he lobbied to apply the Congressional Review Act to this BS bill. I'd send him an email but he only responds to those in his district.

[ QUOTE ]
However, Congress does retain the right of review, both in informal ways and in formal ways as codified by the Congressional Review Act. In fact, there is actually a backdoor way to kill the bill.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even though nothing may come of this, this is one of the reasons for poker players that it was so important to toss the Republicans from power in Congress.

BluffTHIS! · #5 11-10-2006, 07:43 AM

[ QUOTE ]
has been successfully enacted exactly once, and that was in regards to a piece of legislation that had barely passed through the Congress

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice find indeed Nate, though of course a longshot. Last minute add-on to a conference committee report that had no real debate = barely passed in spades.

Berge: get your member on this ASAP! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

The argument for killing the bill this way needs to be so that the study bill of the Nevada delegation has a chance to be considered before contrary implementation.

fnord_too · #6 11-10-2006, 10:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know where he stands on internet gambling

[/ QUOTE ]

BTW, Robert Scott voted against HR4411

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/c...e/2/votes/363/

[/ QUOTE ]

Outstanding!

NorthDakota · #7 11-10-2006, 11:33 AM

I hope the PPA has the Proper people in Place to talk about this with Congressmen Scott...

If there is an outside chance of it helping... It should be pursued... Perhaps we should all be contacting Congressman Robert Scott...

vinyard · #8 11-10-2006, 03:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
In general, once a bill is passed by Congress and signed by the President, authority for drafting and enforcing regulations transfers from the Legislative Branch to agencies within the Executive Branch. In this case, I believe the relevant agency is the Federal Reserve.

[/ QUOTE ] The relevant agencies are the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury.

BluffTHIS! · #9 11-10-2006, 05:30 PM

Nate,

On second thought, I don't know if this would even help as much as one might think. Even if the longshot came in and congress killed the regulations, they wouldn't actually be killing the bill totally, just effective enforcement of same via regulation of financial transfers. So the legal status of the offshore sites re US players would still be the same, and the publicly traded companies still wouldn't take the risk.

What we really need is a stealth carve-out in the same manner this thing passed, and hopefully the new congress might be more conducive to same. And actually it could be done with the Nevada delegation just adding language to a study bill to suspend the IUGE in regards to poker until such time as the study is completed and congress acts on same.

kleath · #10 11-10-2006, 08:35 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Nate,

On second thought, I don't know if this would even help as much as one might think. Even if the longshot came in and congress killed the regulations, they wouldn't actually be killing the bill totally, just effective enforcement of same via regulation of financial transfers. So the legal status of the offshore sites re US players would still be the same, and the publicly traded companies still wouldn't take the risk.

What we really need is a stealth carve-out in the same manner this thing passed, and hopefully the new congress might be more conducive to same. And actually it could be done with the Nevada delegation just adding language to a study bill to suspend the IUGE in regards to poker until such time as the study is completed and congress acts on same.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not accurate as the landscape would not further change from what it is now in terms of the sites and institutions(neteller) Who are waiting to act based on the regs. Since Online gambling is in a fine state right now as it is, I think it'd be fantastic.