Cortez Masto, Curtis Push CFTC for Solutions on Enforcement of Unlawful Gaming in Occasion Contracts

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) led 4 of their Senate colleagues in a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chair Caroline Pham reminding the Commission sports activities betting is regulated by states and tribes, not the CFTC. The Senators underscore that by implicitly permitting some corporations to supply sports activities betting actions as “event contracts,” the CFTC is stopping enforcement of state and tribal gaming legal guidelines which inappropriately permits sports activities betting nationwide.

“The CFTC is expressly prohibited from allowing event contracts that involve gaming, are unlawful under federal or state law or are contrary to the public interest,” wrote the Senators. “Despite this prohibition, the CFTC is permitting sportsbook gaming to inappropriately designate themselves as ‘event contracts’ with oversight by the CFTC. For example, some companies are claiming to allow legal sports betting in all fifty states. This action – and the CFTC’s unwillingness to stop it – contradicts both the letter and the intent of the law. The Commission cannot sidestep its statutory obligations by declining to enforce the prohibitions that Congress enacted. Doing so undermines the sovereign authority of states and tribes to regulate gambling within their jurisdictions and risks federalizing an area of law that the Supreme Court has held is reserved to the states.”

“The continued availability of illegal sport event contracts in all 50 states further reaffirms the need for the CFTC to enforce its own regulations mandated by Congress. Moreover, by claiming to be federally regulated by the CFTC, issuers of sports event contracts can avoid myriad state laws, including licensing and background investigations, minimum age requirements, federal anti-money laundering rules, and consumer protections such as addiction warnings and integrity monitoring. These rigorous standards are required by state and tribal licensed entities which the CFTC does not have the authority or the capacity to replicate,” the Senators concluded.

Read the total letter right here. Additional signatories embrace Senators Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

Senator Cortez Masto is a champion of Nevada’s tourism and gaming economic system. Following the passage of the Republican tax legislation, which imposed larger taxes on gamblers, Cortez Masto launched the FULL HOUSE Act to revive the 100% tax deduction on playing losses. Earlier this month, she launched the WAGER Act, bipartisan laws to guard authorized sportsbooks and gaming companies and assist states like Nevada and Tribal communities reinvest their gaming revenues into their native economies. In the American Rescue Plan, Senator Cortez Masto secured $3 billion in funding to help states with their financial restoration and their important tourism industries, together with Nevada. She additionally delivered assets to the state’s companies and secured flexibility for the gaming industry.

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