Now that Maryland finally has online sports betting, lawmakers are ready to explore the possibility of legalizing Maryland online casino play as well.
Sens. Ron Watson and Nancy King introduced SB 267 on Wednesday. The bill could authorize online games offered by Maryland’s six video lottery facility operators.
Watson explained his reason for introducing the bill to PlayUSA : “Especially now that folks have started to see the revenue we can get from sports betting, I think we’re past the point of hesitation and we’ve realized that casinos are so valuable to our economy here in Maryland. If we had to endure another pandemic and sports shut down, we would have zero money generated from our existing casinos and that would be a shame. But if we can put in place online gaming, we’ll have another revenue stream that can fund our aggressive efforts to improve our education system in Maryland.” It’s the first attempt to legalize this form of online gambling in Maryland. But this is just the beginning of a long road for the legislation.
Watson said he checked with Maryland’s Attorney General office and was told online casino is an expansion of gaming in Maryland. The Maryland constitution requires any expansion of commercial gambling to get approval from voters.
So after receiving a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber, the question of authorizing Maryland online casino would need to go in front of voters in the November 2024 general election . Details of this Maryland online casino bill
Here are some of the key details from the 10-page bill to allow video lottery operators to conduct internet gaming: Assigns the State Lottery and Gaming Commission to regulate online casino.
Sets an initial license fee at $500,000 for five years .
Adds a license renewal fee equal to 1% of the average annual proceeds from the previous three years.
Taxes online casino revenue at 15% . Allows operators to deduct free play and promotional credits from revenue before paying taxes. State tax revenue minus regulatory expenses goes to the Education Trust Fund . Allows the governor to enter into multijurisdictional […]
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