{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cortez-masto-rosen-merkley-cftc-must-rein-in-wildfire-bets-on-prediction-markets/", "Cortez Masto, Rosen, Merkley: CFTC Must Rein in Wildfire Bets on Prediction Markets", "2026-08-03", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "NV", "Catherine Cortez Masto", "C001113", "www.cortezmasto.senate.gov", "cortezmasto", "https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) joined a letter led by U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) raising the alarm about offshore prediction markets allowing people to bet on wildfires.\n\nAs wildfires burn in Nevada and across the nation, the Senators are demanding answers from the CFTC following public reporting that highlights the public safety and insider trading concerns of allowing prediction market platforms to offer bets on natural disasters such as wildfires. Senators Cortez Masto, Rosen, and Merkley were joined by Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).\n\n\u201cOffering bets on destructive wildfires threatens to minimize communities\u2019 suffering all so the rich and powerful can profit,\u201d the Senators wrote. \u201cThere\u2019s also the heightened risk \u2013 according to state and local fire officials \u2013 that individuals could be tempted to commit arson in order to make sure their bets are successful. By offering contracts on fires, prediction market sites run the risk of encouraging people to influence fires that have already started, creating additional concerns around public safety and insider trading.\u201d\n\nThe Senators pressed the CFTC to swiftly ensure regulated exchanges are not listing event contracts that allow users to profit from wildfires threatening communities nationwide.\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here.\n\nSenators Cortez Masto and Rosen have repeatedly called for more stringent oversight of prediction markets. They have previously called on the CFTC to prohibit prediction markets incentivizing physical injury, death, or war and to do more to combat insider trading in prediction markets. Cortez Masto and Rosen have also urged CFTC Chair Michael Selig to abstain from intervening in pending litigation involving prediction markets.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-04T07:35:49Z", "2026-08-04T07:37:27Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cortez-masto-rosen-merkley-cftc-must-rein-in-wildfire-bets-on-prediction-markets/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7252250798046589, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}