Happily, we can once again this week report progress in Barney Frank’s efforts to legalize online casinos in the United States.  As of last Friday, three additional representatives signed on as cosponsors of H.R. 2267, also known as the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.  This brings the cosponsor count all the way up to 54; a good sign that online casinos will receive regulations some time this year like Frank promised.

Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is of course hopeful that regulating online casinos will be a bipartisan effort, but it is clear that he is perfectly happy taking advantage of the commanding influence his party, the Democrats, have over the Congress.

There are quite a few Republicans that do support Congressman Frank’s bill but this past week all of the new cosponsors were Democrats: Representative Betsy Markey of Colorado, Representative Russ Carnahan of Missouri, and Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey.  H.R. 2267 is well on its way to becoming law.

Although opposition to online casinos is a major part of the Republican platform not all republicans agree with the policy.  Those that support online casinos and the bill introduced by Representative Barney Frank recognized the importance of Internet freedom as well as the potential of online casinos to aid the stressed federal budget.  Online casino regulation may be achievable by Democratic vote alone, but the Republicans need to recognize the potential of regulating the industry.