Legislative Round-Up: A Late Push In Georgia, Big-Market Sweeps Action

Who says state government is boring? The legislative round-up sure doesn’t think so, and with good reason. This week sees lawmakers in the Georgia House scrambling to pass a sports betting bill, and statehouses in New York and Florida taking aim at sweepstakes casinos.

Dixieland drama

After the Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee of the Georgia Senate voted down a resolution to put legalizing sports betting to a public vote via constitutional amendment, the lower chamber has picked up the effort in hopes of getting something across by Friday’s crossover deadline.

Rep. Marcus Wiedower’s HR 450 and HB 686 were moved to second reading as of Tuesday and could be up for more debate Wednesday. Both the resolution and bill need to move out of committee and be approved by the full House by Friday to be able to cross over into the Senate, where it may gain more support than SR 131.

“In the Republican primary, they put a question on the ballot. Do you want us to decide, or do you want to decide? And over 80% of people said they want to decide,” Wiedower told WABE Radio. “You know, certainly, that helps my Republican colleagues. As far as the Democrat side of things … we’ll see how that goes.”

A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, which means getting buy-in from both parties. Democrat Sen. Derek Mallow signaled his party is willing to negotiate in a bid to legalize.

“We’re not asking for all of our priorities, but we are asking for some,” he told WABE. “If it requires the majority of our caucus to vote for it, then we should have a significant influence on whatever that legislation may be.”

Update:

New York, Florida legislators eye sweeps bans

The trend of states looking to ban sweepstakes casinos is reaching a fever pitch in statehouses, and both New York and Florida have entered the fray with bills.

In New York, state Sen. Joe Addabbo introduced S5935 on Tuesday, calling for the “prohibition of online sweepstakes games and revenue from illegal markets.” Addabbo, who is the point legislator for practically all things gaming in the Empire State, defined online sweepstakes games as:

any game, contest, or promotion that is available on the internet and/or accessible on a mobile phone, computer terminal, or similar access device, that utilizes a dual-currency system of payment allowing the player to exchange the currency for any prize, award, cash or cash equivalents, or any chance to win any price, award, cash or cash equivalents, and simulates casino-style  gaming, including but not  limited to, slot machines, video poker, table games including but not limited to blackjack, roulette, craps, and poker, lottery games including but not limited to draw games, instant win games, keno, and bingo, and sports wagering."

Addabbo’s bill calls for fines ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 for each violation and subject to potential loss of license or ineligibility to obtain one.

The Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA), which has been a vocal opponent in every state where sweeps-ban bills have been filed, released a statement Tuesday that read:

“Albany legislators have no business dictating to New Yorkers what games they can play on their phones. This deeply flawed legislation is an affront to personal freedoms, an insult to New York voters, and a colossal waste of government resources. 

“As constructed, the bill could criminalize promotional sweepstakes used by small businesses in New York, risking millions in revenue for local shops and restaurants and threatening thousands of jobs in an already fragile economic climate.”

Florida legislators filed a bill last week that would expand the state’s ban on gambling to include “sweepstakes casinos, internet casino gaming, and online sports betting.” But the primary purpose of HB 953 and companion S1404 could be more to lay the groundwork for the Seminole Tribe to expand into iGaming via Hard Rock in addition to banning sweepstakes casinos.

The SPGA noted its opposition to the bills via statement Monday, saying they “inaccurately conflate safe and legal social sweepstakes games with ‘Internet gambling’ and ‘Internet sports wagering.'”

The association added the bill could create the unintended consequences of impacting large companies that use sweepstakes promotions as part of their marketing efforts, citing Coinbase and Starbucks as two such companies.

Another try at lowering New York’s tax rate

New York Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, who chairs the lower chamber’s Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee, introduced a bill to expand the number of mobile sports betting operators in the state as a means of reducing the 51% tax rate that is currently tied for the highest in the nation.

A6013 would have 14 mobile options for bettors available by Jan. 31, 2026, and 16 by the end of January 2027. In turn, the levy on operator revenue would decline based on the amount of licensees. It would drop only one point to 50% when 10 to 12 operators are conducting business; 35% with 13 or 14 operators; and 25% with 15 or the maximum 16 operators.

Addabbo filed similar legislation in the Senate in 2023, looking to reduce the rate to 35% when the operator count reached 14 and then 25% with 15 or more.

Despite not entering the mobile marketplace until January 2021, New York has generated the most state tax revenue from sports betting in the post-PASPA era at more than $2.75 billion through January. About $1.04 billion of those receipts came via revenue from the state’s nine mobile operators in 2024.

Mississippi movement

The quest to bring mobile sports betting to Mississippi took a twist Tuesday in both chambers. The Senate Gaming Committee declined to pick up HB 1302, which would have let the bill die. The House, led by Gaming Chairman and Rep. Casey Eure, however, kept the bill alive with a procedural maneuver, inserting language from both SB 2381 and SB 2510.

Whether this leads to the bill passing in the full House and being heard in the Senate is uncertain. Sen. David Blount, who chairs the upper chamber’s Gaming Committee, continues to be an opponent of expansion into mobile sports betting, much to Eure’s frustration.

“This shows how serious we are about mobile sports betting,” Eure told Mississippi Today. “I’ve done everything he’s asked for … I’ve done everything they’ve asked for plus some.”

The Magnolia State is bordered by three states that offer mobile sports betting: Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Handle at Mississippi’s retail sportsbooks declined 4.6% in 2024 to $452.4 million, and revenue had a sharper downturn at 18.8% to $41.6 million due to improved bettor performance. Tax revenue from sports betting in 2024 fell by more than $1 million to $5.1 million.

New Hampshire Senate vote on iGaming near

The New Hampshire Senate could move the state another step closer to legalizing internet casino gaming Thursday when it debates SB168. State Sen. Tim Lang’s bill passed through the upper chamber’s Ways and Means Committee by a 3-2 vote last month after he included amendments related to tethering online skins to brick-and-mortar casinos and charitable gaming.

Lang’s bill calls for at least three online operators and no more than six.

Real-money online casino gaming revenue would be taxed at 45% — similar to in-person casino wagering. One-quarter of those receipts would be allocated for an elderly, disabled, blind, and deaf exemption reimbursement fund; 25% to a special education fund; and the remaining 50% to the state’s general fund.

North Carolina bettors closer to tax deductions

The North Carolina Commerce and Economic Development Committee passed House Bill 14 on Tuesday, which would allow gamblers to deduct losses on state income tax. The bill would align state policy with federal tax law as the Tar Heel State nears its first anniversary with legal sports betting after a March 2024 launch.

North Carolina sportsbooks have accepted more than $6 billion in wagers the first 11 months of operation, and the state has collected $118.5 million in tax revenue. House Bill 14 now advances to the lower chamber’s Committee on Finance.