WASHINGTON -- The nation's capital is poised to become the first district in the nation to legalize Internet gambling.

The District's 2011 budget included a provision to allow online gaming within its borders. Congress had 30 days to reject

the measure but allowed that time period to expire last week. "Since that was happening already here in the

city we weren't getting any revenue from it at all," DC Council member Michael A. Brown told 630 WMAL News.

"That's one of the reasons we changed the law--to make sure we could do it since it was already being done here."

Online gambling will be monitored by the DC Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board. The board will collect fees as revenue

for the District that would otherwise be paid to companies outside the city and perhaps even the country, Brown said. Brown says the measure is an innovative way to fund social services programs that saw cuts in the 2011 budget.

"We all are trying to create as many things as we can to restore some of those cuts," he said.

Source : Amanda Gaines, WMAL.com Original Article