A Florida bill whose language could cause headaches for online sweepstakes casinos should it pass has its third committee hearing scheduled — the final hurdle to clear before it gets sent to the House floor for full vote.
House Bill 189 is slated for a hearing at 12:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday before the House Commerce Committee. It’s already advanced through two subcommittees, earning unanimous 13-0 approval in November in the House Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee and a 13-4 clearance last month in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
If the House Commerce Committee approves HB189 on Tuesday, it will get put on the official House calendar.
No mention of sweeps, but wording change could be key
HB189 makes zero reference to sweeps casinos or sweepstakes gaming. It doesn’t even specify anything about “dual-currency” or “multi-currency” gaming models, in reference to the system of Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins most modern sweepstakes casinos use.
But it makes a critical change to the state’s definition of internet gambling …
To play or engage in any game in which money or other thing of value is awarded based on chance, regardless of any application of skill, that is available on the Internet and accessible on a mobile device, computer terminal, or other similar access device and simulates casino-style gaming, including, but not limited to, slot machines, video poker, and table games.
The key phrases here are “other thing of value” and “casino-style gaming.” It’s not a stretch to call sweeps casinos casino-style gaming, so if decision-makers determine Sweeps Coins — which cannot be purchased but can be redeemed for money — constitute a “thing of value” then HB189 could cause problems for sweeps casinos.
Language that vague, however, can certainly be challenged in court, should sweeps operators choose that path if Florida comes after them citing HB189 as grounds for prosecution.
Hear from the author of HB189
The main point of HB189 has nothing to do with internet gambling, according to the bill’s author.
During HB189’s hearing before the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, Rep. Dana Trabulsy told committee members the core focus of the bill is tackling “illegal slot machines and unregulated gaming arcades.”
Although, she did also briefly speak in broad terms of the entire bill’s intent.
“This is really a consumer protection bill,” she said, “as well as cracking down on the bad guys.”
In fact, the bill spans 98 pages and covers a myriad of topics within or adjacent to the Florida gambling ecosystem, including the authorization of daily fantasy sports in the state.
Despite that breadth, HB189’s most recent committee hearing didn’t touch on the bill’s definition of “internet gambling” or explore any effects that language could carry. Instead, and this could be because the hearing was with the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, the focus stayed on brick-and-mortar concerns — specifically, illegal gaming machines and how to prevent nonprofit or veterans groups from accidentally exposing themselves to felony charges for unknowingly running unauthorized devices.
Another FL bill with same language change set for hearing
A couple other bills in Florida would make the same potentially painful language change for sweeps gaming operators in the state.
Senate Bill 1580 is a similarly constructed mammoth of a bill covering a wide range of gambling issues. It includes the exact same definition of internet gambling that HB189 does. Essentially, both bills create a law that will ultimately prevent any entity other than the Seminole Tribe of Florida from offering any type of online gaming (via Hard Rock Bet) now or in the future.
And SB1580 has a hearing the same day as HB189.
It will be presented to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee at 12 p.m. local time on Tuesday, just 30 minutes before HB189’s hearing.
This will be the first hearing, though, for SB1580, meaning it’s a couple of steps behind HB189.
A third bill — House Bill 591 — is, just like HB189 and SB1580, a behemoth gambling bill that includes the same new definition of internet gambling. Since being introduced in December, however, HB591 still has yet to have its first hearing scheduled.
Meanwhile, in the Attorney General’s office …
While bills plod along in the state legislature, Florida Attorney General Jason Uthmeier is also taking matters into his own hands. In addition to issuing subpoenas to “sweepstakes-style gaming apps” already, Sweepsy confirmed Uthmeier is also actively meeting with sweepstakes casino operators (and DFS operators too).
The intent of those meetings was, as Florida Politics reported in January, “to exchange information, allow the companies to present their cases and inform them of the strict guidelines by which they must abide to continue doing business in the state.”
So far, Sweepsy has been told these conversations are ongoing and have featured real engagement from both sides, but of course whether those discussions ultimately translate into policy outcomes in any way favoring sweeps gaming remains an open question.
