The General Assembly of the American state of Maryland has failed to take action on the prospected legalization of online casinos in the state as it adjourned on April 8 without discussing the matter.
That happened despite several stakeholders having expressed interest in that aspect, including iGaming suppliers, operators, vendors and lawmakers, all regarding the prospect of legalizing online casinos in Maryland as a real possibility.
A similar thing happened in the state of Georgia a couple of weeks ago when the General Assembly ended its term without voting on the legalization of online sports betting in the state. Experts were regarding Georgia and Maryland as the two states with the best prospects for legalization of online gambling this Spring.
However, Maryland does have legislation in place regarding online sports betting, it was approved back in November 2020 after the population had its say through a referendum.
Major Hurdles in Other States
There are several other American states which are considering expanding their online gambling legislation, but each one of them seems to have issues that need more time before being completely ironed out.
In Alabama for instance, there is a comprehensive package of bills that aim to legalize lottery, retail casinos and online sports betting in the state. That package of legislation is currently blocked at a conference committee which is tasked with setting fair tax rates for each of those activities and also to solve the problem of gambling exclusivity by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
In Maine the General Assembly failed to put two bills to vote that would have given the four tribes in the state control over online casinos and shut two existing land-based venues. Both bills came with divided reports from the committees, so debates are bound to resume when the legislature adjourns on April 17.
The Mississippi Senate witnessed two bills regarding the legalization of sports betting die in its committees while a third was adopted by the Gaming Committee in a strike-all version just to keep the topic alive for now. The legislature in this state will adjourn on 5 May.
Missouri had plenty of sports betting bills being discussed and at least one made it to the House floor to be discussed. That doesn’t mean that the bill is close to being adopted, though, as there is little consensus about its contents within the state legislature.
Pro sports teams in Missouri are trying to collect signatures for a sports betting initiative that would be included in the November ballot, when the American people will elect its next president. The pro sports teams will have to gather 171,592 verified signatures by early May in order to get on the ballot in November.
Source:
“Maryland online casino is dead. What else is left for 2024 US gambling expansion?“, igamingbusiness.com, April 9, 2024.