Online Casino Bills Die In Committee Two Weeks After Introduction

Hopes for Indiana to pass online casino legislation in 2022 quickly faded.

The iGaming bills were not moved forward by the House Public Policy Committee by the Tuesday deadline for committee bill reporting.

This concludes the chance for online casinos to follow the conventional legislative path. Although the Senate has the potential to innovate to bring the issue back this session, Senator Jon Ford informs Play Indiana that at this moment, there is no political will.

“Given that this is a brief session for us and not one focused on the budget, people appear to prefer holding off,” said Ford. “In my view, the timing was really poor for us. We are in an election year, and we’re expected to have $5 billion in surplus revenue. Therefore, it’s not about the money. The timing simply isn’t right.”

Effort for online casino in Indiana 2022 fails immediately

Ford, who assisted in pushing sports betting legislation in 2019, initially proposed an online casino bill the previous year.

Ford expressed optimism about the implementation of online casinos during a recent conference of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. He sought assistance from iDEA Growth, the Casino Association of Indiana, and UNLV to educate legislators about online casinos through a series of webinars between sessions. This took place as recently as last month.

However, Ford’s decision to introduce the bill in the House implied resistance to its progress in the Senate. He handed his bill over to Representatives Ethan Manning and Doug Gutwein, who subsequently filed House Bill 1356 on January 11.

HB 1337, which included online casino regulations along with other gaming issues, was introduced by Rep. Alan Morrison. The bill proposed the prohibition of hold harmless agreements and the addition of legislative appointees to the Indiana Gaming Commission. However, it did not pass and was eventually terminated in the Public Policy Committee.

Why couldn’t the online casino bill gain any traction?

Due to a short session in even years, getting any bill through the Indiana legislature is difficult.

On January 4, lawmakers began their work. The bill was presented by the deadline of January 11 in the House. This meant that there were only two weeks left for it to exit the committee by the January 25 deadline. Following this, bills are required to transition to the other chamber by January 31. The session concludes on March 14.

In 2019, Rep. Ben Smaltz, the chair of the House Public Policy Committee, eliminated the online component from the sports betting bill when it was under his committee’s review. However, it was reintroduced on the Senate side by Ford.

It was a long shot to persuade Smaltz to push forward legislation for online casinos.

Ford thinks that if the committee had moved the bill forward, the House would have approved it. However, it probably wouldn’t have been put up for a vote in the Senate.

Ford acknowledged that even if the House had forwarded the bill, the Senate leadership had no interest in pursuing it during this session.

Ford said, “I believe they didn’t want the bill to be pushed. However, they often receive bills from the House on issues they are not keen to push, but they still have to address them.”

Play Indiana sources have indicated that opposition escalated all the way to Senate President Rodric Bray, who was unwilling to address a gaming matter while the scandal involving Spectacle Entertainment remains unresolved.

The issue revolves around misconduct by a gaming company in securing permissions for constructing new casinos. Bray distanced himself from online casino legislation last year amidst the continuing investigation. Furthermore, Ford confessed that the scandal appeared to still occupy the thoughts of the Senate leadership.

Next year, Ford will make another attempt.

Among US states, Indiana held the greatest promise for legalizing online casino gaming in 2022. The activity is already legal in six states. However, more states have not yet made the rational move to permit online casino gaming in the wake of the pandemic.

Ford asserts that he will persist in his efforts to inform more colleagues about iGaming in readiness for the next session, indicating that Indiana could remain a leader in this push.

A study by Global Market Advisors indicates that Indiana could miss out on $75 million in tax revenue next year due to the absence of a regulated online casino market.

“Ford expressed disappointment that the legislation didn’t advance as desired, but he positively noted the strides made in educating people about iGaming over the past year. He believes the industry is unequivocally moving towards iGaming on a national scale. He anticipates that increasing discussions about it among more states will promote progress in the coming year.”