Illinois House advances DFS bill

Illinois Rep. Mike Zalewski’s daily fantasy sports legalisation bill HB 4323 was advanced by the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday and sent to the floor for debate later this week amid concerns by some lawmakers that the measure had not been properly vetted and was moving too fast.

“I know this is a controversial bill,” said Zalewski. “Constituents of ours play these games and regardless of whether we agree with their decisions to do so, we’re faced with the choice of deciding whether we want to protect them from the reality we know exists and make sure that they enjoy the games in a reasonable way.”

The bill has provisions for operators generating revenue in excess of $10 million a year to pay a $50,000 licensing fee, and smaller operators with revenues of less than $100,000 face a fee of only $1,500.

Taxes would also be paid on a sliding scale, with companies that make more than $15 million in profits annually paying the highest rate of 22.5 percent.

Republican Rep. Ron Sandack protested that the measure appears to allow operators to continue to carry on business whilst the state gaming board is working out a set of regulations for the genre.

“If I were granted a casino license, I don’t get to open up the shop and start letting gambling occur while the gaming board vets me,” he said.

“The vetting occurs first so that the operations are lawful, so that the people doing the gaming are lawful, so that the game isn’t rigged — all that occurs first. Then licenses are given. We’re doing this backwards and I don’t think that’s fair.”

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