New Hearing Called to Address Online Gambling Issue in Washington

Another hearing has been called to address the internet gambling issue in Washington D.C. and will take place in September.  The two matters that three Washington D.C. Democratic councilors want looked into are the D.C. Lottery contract and the online gambling legislation, both of which have been a cause of major concern.  The councilors who are insistent on the reexamination of both matters are Jack Evans, Muriel Bowser, and Tommy Wells.

The primary reason that these issues need to be addressed for a second time is because an investigation that was supposed to take place by the Inspector General for Washington D.C., Charles J. Willoughby, never occurred.  Willoughby was asked to check into mistakes made by the Chief Financial Officer, Natwar M. Gandhi, and inspect lottery contract irregularities.  Evans stated that because the Inspector General did not investigate these issues, some of the councilors worry that the deal may lack integrity.

Bowser completely agrees with Evans and said that people are worried that Washington’s checks and balances system is not effectively operating, and that it is essential for the public to have confidence in the individuals who are responsible for making sure the ethics, regulations and policies that have been put into place are upheld.

In addition to reanalyzing the D.C. Lottery contract at the hearing in September, Democratic Councilor Tommy Wells has vowed to introduce a law to have the internet gambling legalization bill revoked.  As it stands now, the online gambling bill has not yet been passed and is still pending approval.