Illinois’ iGaming Bills Are Yet to Gain Traction

The Illinois legislative session has failed to advance the state’s iGaming efforts so far but not all hope is lost. With three weeks left in the session, there is still time for HB2239 to make progress.

Sponsored by Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, the bill seeks to legalize online casino gaming and allow the state to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the vertical. The bill would create a state Internet Gaming Act, allow three skins per iGaming license and introduce a 15% tax on online gaming.

However, Illinois lawmakers seem to be in no rush to regulate iGaming and have not held a public discussion on the matter yet.

Rep. Dan Didech doubted that the Illinois online casino bill will advance this session but didn’t rule out the possibility completely. In an interview with PlayUSA, the representative said that the measure is a “long shot” because of a lack of momentum.

However, Didech added that sometimes gaming issues “come together toward the end of the session.”

In any case, Didech attributed the lack of traction to the fact that the state’s budgetary needs haven’t required online casino gaming to be discussed.

For a variety of reasons, the state budget has been on much more stable footing the last few years and we expect that to continue going forward. So we’re not seeing fiscal pressures to generate those sorts of revenues.

Rep. Dan Didech

Not All Hope Is Lost

In the meantime, a separate Senate bill also seeks to legalize online casino gaming. SB1656, sponsored by Sen. Christina Castro, also faces some difficulties.

As the May 3 third-reading deadline approaches, Castro told PlayUSA that missing the deadline would not necessarily spell the end of the measure and could become part of budget negotiations.

According to Castro, Illinois still has weeks of budget negotiations. Because of that, she and her colleagues will continue discussing a variety of proposals that could generate extra revenue for the state. This, she said, would include online gaming.

As industry proponents continue their efforts to expand the state’s industry, Rep. Didech also introduced a bill that would generate a problem gambling task force. In an earlier interview with PlayUSA, the representative praised the gambling expansion as a success for Illinois but underscored the importance of protecting the people from possible adverse effects.