Maryland is one of the states that is exploring online casino legislation, but lawmakers continue to struggle to agree on some key issues. It now appears as if things are much further away from the finish line as the current bill was amended in a way that confuses most.
House Bill 1319 is the piece of legislation that aims to legalize online casinos in the state, and it’s currently sitting in the House Racing and Gaming Subcommittee. Vanessa Atterbeary is the sponsor of that bill, and she just amended the law to allow for 25 licenses instead of just 12.
While that part of the amendment was viewed as a positive, she also included language that made it much harder to receive a license. Maryland also had very strict language in place on the sports betting side of things, and that significantly delayed the launch.
This new amendment also makes it illegal to use a credit card to fund an online casino account, and that will significantly impact the deposit process. There are other major changes to this bill that are worth checking out, but those appear to be the most significant amendments.
The License Categories
There is another bill on the table that allows each of the six casinos in the state to apply for two online skins. That is a very simple process, but the bill in the house would create plenty of confusion in the licensing process.
Licenses would be split up into three categories, and there are very specific rules in place for each category. Casino licenses would be the most common that are offered, but there is some revenue sharing that comes with that as well.
Each casino must share at least 5% of the igaming revenue with a social equity partner, or they could share 33% and then apply for an additional license. The four off-track betting parlors and two bingo halls would be able to apply for a Class B license.
Those properties are also involved in the online sports betting scene in the state, and they would not be required to do any revenue sharing. This new proposal would also open up 18 competitive bid licenses, and those could be claimed by anyone.
These new changes were put in as a way to increase interest into the new industry, but it appears that the changes might end up doing more harm than good.
Opponents Will Emerge
This new amendment to the bill is still pretty fresh, but it won’t take long before people are going to start speaking out. Online sportsbooks do allow players to fun their accounts with a credit card, and that would create some confusion.
This new amendment would also require every customer to create deposit limits, and that’s a step that some people might not be interested in. The current proposed tax rate in this bill ranges between 20% and 55%, and that is extremely high.
There is still a decent chance that online casino gambling comes to the state at some point, but this bill is still going to need some work.
