PITTSBURGH – A Maryland legislator provided insightful comments to an online casino legalization discussion at the most recent conference of state legislators in gaming.
Sen. Ron Watson led a Maryland online casino legalization effort this year. While it fell short, he came away with plenty of lessons learned that he shared with the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States summer meeting.
“I would have done things a whole lot different,” Watson said at the beginning of his fireside chat. “I thought we had our ducks in a row. We needed more.”
Maryland online casino falls short
Watson led the Senate effort to legalize online casino, while Del. Vanessa Atterbeary led the House endeavor. Atterbeary’s House bill advanced to the Senate.
Watson, however, encountered two issues that prevented both his bill and the House legislation from passing: concerns regarding problem gambling and potential bricks-and-mortar casino cannibalization.
Because Maryland online casino will require a public referendum, another effort will not take off until 2026, Watson said.
Run legislation like a campaign
Watson said online casino is an issue legislative proponents need to run like a campaign, not just a piece of legislation. The process needs to start with education of the public and other legislators, Watson said.
He said the educational aspect and vote gathering for online casino should be similar to a ballot initiative.
“We need to treat it like a campaign,” Watson said. “The person who introduces the legislation is just the quarterback. In this case, you need a whole team behind you.”
Cannibalization fears doomed bill
During his push, Watson encountered a study that claimed up to a 26% loss of bricks-and-mortar casino revenue, despite previous research debunking that assertion. The concern of potential loss of revenue and jobs caused two casinos and employee unions to come out against the online gambling push.
Maryland Live! led a campaign against the online gambling legalization, Watson said.
“That was the end of that,” Watson said of union workers showing up to hearings.
NCLGS cannibalization talk
NCLGS is putting together model online casino legislation. They held two panels at this month’s conference to discuss the topic before unveiling a draft, potentially next month.
One of the panels included three regulators from states with online casinos, all three of whom discredited the fears of bricks-and-mortar cannibalization.
iGaming tax rate discussion
NCLGS model legislation will likely have a tax rate between 15% and 25%, according to comments at last week’s conference. Watson ended up with a 55% tax rate.
“I gotta sell this thing,” Watson said of the high tax rate.
Whether it is the tax rate to help convince legislators or guarantees for casino companies, Watson said the legislation needs meat.
“We have to give them a real deal measure,” he said.
