Online gambling legalisation fails in Illinois

The Illinois state legislature adjourned for the year this week, ending any hope that online gambling legalisation bills currently in committee would see a floor vote in this session.

Three proposals have been languishing in committees since early this year, and last month there was activity in both Senate and House that suggested there may be a last minute vote on at least one of them (see previous reports).

The bill with the best chance of achieving a floor vote in the House was perceived to be H 479, which proposed legalising both daily fantasy sports and online casino and poker activity under strict regulations, and had already been approved by the state Senate.

In the event, the bill remained bogged down in committee and failed to make the floor in this session.

Two other bills – S 209 and S 1531 – suffered the same fate after making it as far as the subcommittee to the House Executive Committee last week, but the possibilities were more limited; both bills were light on content and would have had to undergo debate and consensus on what should or should not be included in the provisions.

All three bills will be carried forward to the 2018 legislative season, which starts early next year. H 479, currently in the House Rules Committee, remains the favourite to progress, given its approval by the Senate and further progress through the House.

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