U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with local Indigenous tribes and pueblos, is urging Republican senators to restrain online gambling apps, saying the unregulated platforms pose an “existential threat” to tribal gaming rights and sovereignty.
Heinrich on Friday sent a letter to Republican chairmen of two U.S. Senate committees that are considering separate pieces of legislation that deal with digital assets like cryptocurrency. As drafted, according to the letter, both the CLARITY Act and Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act remove accountability for online platforms that allow users to bet on sports and other events online.
The “rapid expansion” of the apps, which allow users to bet on sports and otherwise engage in casino-style gambling, “poses an existential threat to tribal sovereignty by undermining the revenue that tribes rely on for government services,” Heinrich and 11 other Democratic senators wrote.
