It was an interesting week for Illinois’ online gambling prospects this week, with the issue coming up for discussion ahead of a full vote on the House floor. While the two pending bills didn’t get their vote in the end, a Committee Hearing opened up the eyes of lawmakers looking for a desperate solution to the state’s budget woes.
S 1531 – a standalone Daily Fantasy Sports bill – and H479 – an online gambling bill that also combines DFS was meant to come before the House Executive Committee on Saturday, but the hearing was eventually postponed to Wednesday. Most of the hearing was concentrated on H479, while the DFS bill only got a brief mention. The Executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas, spoke before the committee, and outlined the many benefits of regulated online poker. Pappas stressed that legalization protects players and creates revenue for the state. He also said that online gambling contributes significantly to brick and mortar gaming activity in the state (as can be seen in the example of New Jersey).
No action was taken on both bills and they were not referred to the House floor for a full vote. It is clear that the idea of online gambling won’t advance any further without being attached to a greater budget bill. However, it could be for that reason alone that we haven’t yet seen the end of the line for online gambling this year.
It is no secret that Illinois’ budget is in a critical state at present. In fact, this is the third consecutive year that Illinois may not pass a budget at all. Online gambling could contribute to a state whose credit rating has been reduced to junk bond status. Analysts predict that Illinois could receive around $266 million in five years from legalizing online poker and casino gambling. An extra $19 million would be added if daily fantasy sports were thrown in.
H479 will allow the Illinois Gaming Board to create a Division of Internet Gaming. Existing casinos and racetracks would be able to apply for and receive a five year operating license at a cost of $10 million. They would also be required to pay a 15% levy on annual internet return revenue.
Illinois lawmakers are not yet done this year discussing the budget problems and they may still turn back to the idea of online gambling if they see that they’re not having luck finding a solution.
