Maryland House Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary is attempting to legalize online casinos in the state once again, introducing House Bill 17. Atterbeary pre-filed it in October and it has been assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee, ready for a first reading when the legislative session opens on January 8.
The bill would give regulatory oversight to the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (MSLGCC), which would be entrusted with issuing as many as five licenses. The MSLGCC would also be permitted to enter into interstate gaming compacts with regulators in other states.
commit at least $5m toward the building and operation of a live dealer studio
One of the more interesting aspects of the legislation is that it would require licensees to commit at least $5m toward the building and operation of a live dealer studio or “a studio for television and film productions under the auspices of the Maryland film office within the Maryland Department of Commerce Division of Tourism, Film, and the Arts.”
Atterbeary filed a similar bill last year. It made it through the House fairly easily, but Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson wouldn’t take it up in the upper chamber.
Senator Ron Watson, who worked on the bill with Atterbeary, told PlayUSA that legalizing online casinos may be a way to plug a $2.7bn budget deficit. He wants to fund the government without raising taxes, so this could be a way.
Watson added that at the end of the 2024 session, he didn’t plan on moving forward with an online casino bill this year because Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown told him that since it is an expansion of gambling, it would require a state referendum. Because a referendum couldn’t be put in front of voters until 2025, Watson decided that he’d step back from the issue this year.
He told PlayUSA, though, that Brown is “very open-minded” and could possibly be convinced that online gaming and brick-and-mortar gaming are the same thing in different wrappers, therefore allowing legalization without a referendum.