Michigan is now among the state considering legalizing online gambling under a new bill introduced by a group of state senators.
The bill, dubbed the Lawful Internet Gaming Act, was introduced in the state’s Senate by Senator Mike Kowall. He was joined by four other senators in introducing the bill.
The bill allows for the legalization and regulation of online casino games and poker and seeks to “protect residents of this state who wager on games of chance and skill through the internet and to capture revenues and create jobs generated from internet gaming.”
The bill now goes to the state’s Senate Committee on Regulatory Reform. Kowall is a member of the committee and also the vice chair of the Senate’s Oversight and the Commerce Committees and is a member of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and the Government Operations Committee.
Kowall said he proposed the bill due to the popularity of online gaming and the potential tax revenue and jobs it could generate in the state.
Under the bill, players would have to be 21 years old. Michigan-based commercial and tribal casinos could apply for online gaming licenses. The proposal, however, limits the total number of licenses to eight.
A licensing fee of $5 million would be required and the state would levy a 10 percent tax on revenue. Licenses would be for five years. A $100,000, non-refundable application fee would also be imposed.
Licenses could go to either state-licensed private casino operators or federally recognized tribes with existing casino operations in the state. Under the bill, tribes would have to waive sovereign immunity and pay the relevant taxes and fees in order to qualify.
The also bill does not require gamblers to be physically located in the state and allows for interstate and international compacts to be signed, thus allowing gambling customers from other jurisdictions to play in Michigan-based online casinos and poker rooms.
The bill reads:
“Notwithstanding anything else in this act, a wager may be accepted from an individual who is not physically present in this state if the division determines that the wager is not inconsistent with federal law or the law of the jurisdiction, including any foreign nation, in which the individual is located or that the wagering is conducted under a multijurisdictional agreement to which this state is a party that is not inconsistent with federal law.”
Only Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey permit online gambling under an opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice that current federal law does not ban intra-state online gambling within a state’s borders. However, Nevada and Delaware have signed an agreement to share online poker player pools.
The wording is seen as leaving the door open for Michigan to also enter into these player sharing pacts. However, no state has been able to enter into an international compact, and the legality of that under current federal law remains doubtful.
The bill also does not mention daily fantasy sports or sports betting.
