In a surprising move that few really saw coming, the Pennsylvania House ofRepresentatives took a huge step towards legalizing online gambling in the state by passing anamendmenttoHouse Bill 2150that included the legalization of online gambling. HB 2150 is a bill by Republican Representative George Dunbar and was focused on the regulation of daily fantasy sports, an importantconversationthat is taking place inmanystates across the country and which most recently saw the passage of abillthrough the New York Legislature.

The amendment successfullyattached to HB 2150 was authorized by Democrat Representative Rosita Youngblood and was passedin the House by a comfortable 115 votes to 80. The current iteration of HB2150 now includes both the legalization of online gambling and regulation of daily fantasy sport in Pennsylvania. Ifthe bill passesin the Senate as it iswrittentoday, individuals aged 21 and over will be able to gamble and play poker online. Revenue from online gambling will be taxed at 16%, which is more closely aligned with New Jersey's online gaming taxrate as opposed to the materialrate applied toPennsylvania brick andmortarcasinos today. Thebill also contains proposalsto addslotmachines at both airports and race tracksfor the first time; operated by license holders approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

While the bill as passed won't implement a windfall of legislationall at once, HB 2150 does set a fascinating framework wherein casinos will have the option to enter into legalized sportsbettingshould the federal ban be lifted - a provision we assume was required by the casino base to support the framework of DFS regulation - a space in which casino operators trulyneitheroperatein orfinancially benefit from today.

The passage of theBillmarksan important step forward in the fight for the expansionof online gambling intoa fourth state. From here, the bill will be sent to the House Appropriations Committee to ensure that it is fiscally viable. It will then be returned to the House of Representatives for a further vote. Thepenultimatestep will be a vote in the Pennsylvania State Senate before it is sent to the Governor to be passed into law.

A vote that had occurred earlier in the evening and was centered aroundvideo gaming terminals (VGTs) had been defeated with 116 votes against and only 79 for. This earlier amendment to HB 2150would haveallowed every business with a liquorlicenseto install up to five VGTs, and was seen by many as a poisonpill to the bill's core elements of DFS regulation and online casino in state.

This is an important moment fromthe industryand one to be greeted with optimism. There had been concern that progress on online gambling in Pennsylvania ran the risk of stalling again due to the importance of thePresidential Election. Howeverthe passage of this bill, combined withiGaming legislative movement in Michigan and New Yorkand ongoing efforts around daily fantasy sports, shows that the dominos may be slowly starting to fall with online gambling.Like many states across the country,Pennsylvania islooking for alternative sources of revenue, meaning that if the bill passes the State Senate it is unlikely that GovernorTom Wolf doesn't sign it.

GAN will continue to monitor the situation both in Pennsylvania and across the country as movement towards online gambling continues to heat up.

GAN - GameAccount Network plc published this content on 23 June 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 23 June 2016 16:31:02 UTC.

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