Michigan introduces new online gambling bill

With Pennsylvania seemingly stalled in their attempts to push online gambling into its budget to alleviate the $2 billion hole many supporters of online gambling are now looking again at Michigan following the introduction of a new online gambling bill there.

H 4926 was introduced this week by state Rep. Brandt Iden, it has already been discussed at a House Regulatory Reform Committee meeting which Iden is the Chair.

Earlier this year a similar bill was introduced by Sen. Mike Kowall but got stalled because it would not allow tribal gaming operators to be involved in online gambling unless they waived its sovereign immunity. In Iden’s Bill the tribal Indians would only have to re-negotiate their compacts to be involved in online gambling.

The tax rates does differ between the two bill with Iden calling for 15% tax rate opposed to Kowall’s 10%, apart from that the bills are very much the same, with the minimum age at 21 years, allowing for interstate compacts with other legalized states and calling for all online operators seeking a license to offer online poker as a minimum.

How this bill fairs against the previous is a tough call to make, only time will see if progress is made in Michigan with online gambling, but many observers are wary of raising hopes in the US with so many false dawns in online gambling expansion there.