Michigan To Hold Online Poker HearingWednesday Hearing To Be Held In Regulatory Reform Committee |
|
The Michigan Senate’s Regulatory Reform Committee has planned an online poker hearing for Wednesday, May 4, less than a month after the bill was introduced.
The legislation, Senate Bill No. 889, was introduced in mid-April by State Senator Mike Kowall, a Republican. According to the Poker Players Alliance, five of the nine committee members are already co-sponsors of the legislation.
The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. local time in Lansing.
The Michigan hearing follows the April 27 California online poker hearing, which resulted in an 18-0 committee vote in favor of the Golden State bill. Though, the legislative efforts in California have been going on for the past nine years with no real success yet.
Under the Michigan bill, only the state’s commercial casinos and tribal groups with casinos could operate the online casinos. The legislation would limit it to eight online casino licensees.
Internet poker licenses would be good for five years, with a $5 million licensing fee (in the form of an advance on the taxes) and a 10-percent tax on gross gaming revenue.
The Michigan proposal would allow other casino games in addition to poker. California is just considering poker. Like Michigan, Pennsylvania is taking a look at all the online casino games.
Michigan was one of the first U.S. states to launch an online lottery thanks to the federal government’s 2011 reinterpretation of the Wire Act, which gives it experience already in the online games realm. The state recently allowed lottery players to fund their Internet accounts using PayPal, a major boost to payment processing for the games.
Detroit casinos already generate roughly $1.35 billion a year in gaming revenue, though that has been shrinking. Tribal gaming revenue in the state has also not been growing.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
