Attorney General Moves Out of Washington as PPA Moves in
The PPA now has Washington base camp under new leader John Pappas
Tuesday 28th August 2007
Lobby group and non-profit organisation The Poker Player’s Alliance has had a change of leadership and a change of location. Michael Bolcerek has stepped aside and John Papas, previously Vice President of Government Affairs, is the new Chairman. The two have worked closely over the last year. Recruiting has begun in Washington, with the organisation looking for poker enthusiasts with an understanding of the political landscape and history.
Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato said that “The organization’s Board of Directors felt that, to most effectively impact and effectuate our public policy agenda, we needed to be in Washington full time.”
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is one of many things that outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was criticised for. He made statements about the links between online poker, addictive behaviour and organised crime that showed his ignorance of the topic. Research from Harvard has found that only 0.4% of players will exhibit signs of compulsive behaviour.
PartyGaming, Harrah’s and the American Gaming Association (AGA) have spent over $1.3m on lobbying against the UIGEA so far this year and support is growing for Barney Frank and Robert Wexler’s proposals which aim to regulate rather than prohibit online poker, partly on the basis that it is a skill game and not pure gambling. Peter King and Steve Israel, republican and democratic representatives of New York, gave the proposed legislation bi-partisan support in a New York Post essay calling for a “regulatory framework”.
John Pappas said that the move was a “signal to federal lawmakers that a growing political constituency will now be camped out where they work, and that our 660,000-plus members will be there when they go home. We have to seize this opportunity to push our agenda through Congress.”
