The fast-moving bill banning sweepstakes casinos in Indiana has been set for its first committee hearing in the Senate, just days after getting approval on the House floor.
House Bill 1052, which imposes civil penalties on sweeps casinos operating with “dual-currency” or “multi-currency” gaming economies, is set for a hearing before the Senate Public Policy Committee at 1 p.m. local time on Feb. 11. It received its first reading in the Senate on Thursday.
So far, only sweeps ban bills in Indiana and Mississippi have passed through their originating legislative chambers. But other bills are still making progress. Like Legislative Document 2007 in Maine, for instance, which also recently received its next committee assignment — also 1 p.m. local time on Feb. 11 before the Joint Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs.
Where things stand with HB1052
HB1052 has gone on an interesting journey so far, with two attempts to amend the bill to provide for regulation of sweeps casinos instead of a ban. Ultimately, though, both attempts failed.
In the House Public Policy Committee, Rep. Steve Bartels offered an amendment that would have regulated sweepstakes casinos instead of banning them outright. One committee member — Rep. Jim Lucas — emphatically backed the proposal, saying he was “100% against” a full ban, but the amendment failed.
That same amendment was proposed again on the House floor, and it was defeated a second time by a 54–34 vote.
Legislators did adopt two key changes during the committee stage though. The original bill imposed criminal penalties and applied only to “dual-currency” sweepstakes models. The amended bill replaced criminal charges with civil violations and added “multi-currency” ecosystems to the bill’s purview as well.
With those revisions in place, the House advanced HB1052 on Monday by an 87–11 vote.
Setting the stage for Maine
In Maine, meanwhile, LD2007 had its first hearing with the Joint Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs on Jan. 14. That day featured testimony from various parties on both sides of the sweeps debate, including DraftKings, VGW, the state’s Department of Public Safety, and the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance.
DraftKings was represented by Kevin Cochran, Senior Director of Legal and Government Affairs, who emphasized the need to ban sweeps casinos in the wake of Maine officially approving the future launch of real-money iGaming in January.
“Unregulated sweepstakes-style casino platforms operate outside of that framework,” Cochran said, “drawing players away from licensed operators and undermining the intent of the law.”
VGW was represented by Lloyd Melnick, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, who highlighted that most players at VGW properties — Chumba Casino, Global Poker, LuckyLand Slots, and LuckyLand Casino — “never spend a penny.”
“You’re entered in sweepstakes, which you can play with,” Melnick said of VGW sites’ sweeps operations. “Those sweepstakes can lead to monetary rewards. They can be gift cards, but they can be redeemed for cash. You’re not actually gambling.”
As for the SGLA, Managing Director Sean Ostrow testified passing LD2007 would actually fuel the illegal iGaming market in Maine, rather than curtail it.
“We think if LD2007 passed, the outcome will be pretty predictable,” he said. “The law-abiding operators, including members of the SGLA, would exit the state, but it would be the illegal operators that stay. They can continue to prey on unsuspecting Maine consumers. Many of those are based in China that use exploitative marketing techniques. We believe there’s no place for that.”
A third bill in Virginia? Yes, and it has a hearing too
A third bill that would ban sweepstakes casinos in Virginia — Senate Bill 579 — has been assigned a hearing before the Senate Courts of Justice Committee at 7 p.m. local time on Feb. 11.
The other two bills (which are currently progressing through their own committee processes) legalize real-money iGaming and ban sweeps almost as an afterthought, whereas the main focus of SB579 is the sweeps ban.
Other updates in Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Iowa
Elsewhere, Mississippi Senate Bill 2104 — which, like Indiana’s HB1052, passed out of its originating chamber this week — has already been assigned to a House committee: the House Gaming Committee. No word yet, however, on any scheduled hearings.
The bill banning Sweeps Coin gameplay in Oklahoma — Senate Bill 1589 — was assigned its first Senate committee this week: the Senate Business and Insurance Committee. SB1589 actually never mentions sweepstakes casinos, but it very clearly targets their Sweeps Coin gameplay model by including the following new language in its consideration of what “representative of value” covers in terms of currency for illegal online gambling:
“Includes any and all currency used as part of a dual-currency system of payment that allows a person to exchange such currency for any prize, award, cash, or cash equivalent, or any chance to win any prize, award, cash, or cash equivalent.”
In Tennessee, twin bills banning sweepstakes casinos — Senate Bill 2136 and House Bill 1885 — have received their first committee assignments: the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and the Department and Agencies Subcommittee, respectively.
Speaking of bill language, Tennessee’s are the only ones that don’t mention “dual-currency” or “multi-currency” or anything related to the quantity of currencies in the model. Instead, it simply uses the catch-all phrasing of a “virtual-currency system.”
Meanwhile, over in Iowa, twin bills that would allow the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to send cease-and-desist orders to sweeps casinos — Senate Study Bill 3040 and House Study Bill 586 — have both passed through their initial subcommittee stages and currently sit pending with the State Government Committees in their respective chambers.
