Two major Florida gambling enforcement bills advanced Tuesday in separate legislative hearings, with lawmakers emphasizing illegal gaming machines and consumer protection concerns while largely sidestepping discussion of online gambling platforms like sweepstakes casinos.
The measures, SB 1580 in the Senate and HB 189 in the House, both expand regulatory oversight and clarify parts of Florida’s complex gaming framework. Each bill would also elevate some illegal gambling violations from misdemeanors to felonies, a significant enforcement escalation.
Neither bill explicitly references sweepstakes casinos. However, both bills revise Florida’s definition of unauthorized internet gambling to cover online games that award money or another “thing of value” and simulate casino-style play, language that could potentially encompass sweepstakes operations depending on how regulators interpret and enforce the law.
While not directly addressed in the bills, some legal experts say Florida law already treats sweepstakes gaming as prohibited gambling, so these bills could impact current and future operations. Florida’s gambling market operates under a 2021 compact with the Seminole Tribe granting it exclusivity over casino gaming and online sports betting, which provides context for the state’s broader enforcement approach toward unauthorized gambling.
Senate bill frames illegal gaming as consumer protection issue
During Tuesday’s Senate Regulated Industries Committee hearing on SB 1580, the bill’s first committee hearing, sponsor Sen. Jonathan Martin repeatedly framed illegal gambling as a predatory activity that requires stronger deterrence.
“Illegal gaming is a growing predatory problem targeting vulnerable Floridians, and current penalties are too weak to deter operators,” Martin said. “This bill restores real deterrence by making the operation of illegal gambling houses a felony and increasing penalties for related illegal gaming activity.”
Florida Gaming Control Commission executive director Alana Zimmer delivered testimony in support of SB 1580, telling lawmakers that unregulated gambling venues aren’t required to implement user protection measures.
“These operations exist entirely outside consumer safeguards,” Zimmer said. “Floridians who patronize them have no protection against fraud, manipulation, or other criminal activity that often accompanies underground casinos.”
She added that the legislation would provide clearer public guidance and stronger enforcement tools for regulators.
Earlier versions of SB 1580 included a detailed regulatory framework for fantasy sports contests, including licensing requirements, compliance audits, and oversight authority for the gaming commission. Lawmakers on Tuesday added an amendment removing those provisions before advancing the bill, leaving Florida’s already ambiguous legal status for DFS operators unchanged.
House bill broadens enforcement and regulatory powers
Around the same time that the Senate bill was being heard, HB 189, which had already passed two other committee hearings, was being advanced out of the House Commerce Committee with a wider structural focus on gambling oversight.
Bill sponsor Rep. Dana Trabulsy described the bill as a comprehensive regulatory update.
“The bill substantially revises Florida law related to gambling regulation and enforcement,” she said. “It expands criminal penalties for illegal gambling, strengthens oversight and ethics requirements for the Gaming Control Commission, tightens licensing standards, and clarifies regulation of internet gambling, sports wagering, fantasy contests, and slot machines.”
An approved strike-all amendment incorporated additional provisions, including clearer authority for local governments to prohibit gambling activity and expanded penalties tied to illegal operations.
The amended bill now also specifies that internet sports wagering does not include fantasy sports contests, a distinction that clarifies enforcement boundaries while leaving Florida’s DFS regulatory status unresolved.
Hearings had limited mentions of online gambling
One of the few moments during the hearings where online gambling was mentioned directly came during Trabulsy’s remarks about researching the issue personally.
“I did download a gambling app,” she told colleagues. “I know why I don’t gamble because I would be one of those seniors that is exploited. I’ve lost about $600 researching this, and I don’t think that I can charge that to the Florida House under research, but I sure would like to.”
While anecdotal, the comment illuminated broader concerns about consumer vulnerability that lawmakers say motivated the legislation.
Still, neither hearing included sustained discussion of sweepstakes gaming platforms, which have long operated in a legal gray area, prompting some states, including New York and California, to pass legislation or take enforcement action explicitly banning dual-currency sweepstakes gaming models.
Sweepsy has reached out to both Martin and Trabulsy to see how online sweepstakes operations fit into their bills. We will update this story with their responses.
Trabulsy also mentioned Florida’s existing tribal gaming compact as part of the policy backdrop, along with tax revenue considerations.
“We have a compact for a reason,” she said. “The Seminole Tribe pays the state about $2.5 billion over five years, and illegal gambling that doesn’t pay taxes creates an unfair playing field.”
While not mentioning sweepstakes casinos specifically, those comments could be read as an indirect reference to some online gaming platforms that currently operate in Florida without a dedicated tax or licensing framework.
Next steps for HB 189 and SB 1580
HB 189 has now cleared its assigned House committees, including the Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee and the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, and could next be scheduled for voting consideration by the full House. Passage there would require a majority vote before the measure could move to the Senate.
SB 1580 is still early in the Senate process. After clearing the Regulated Industries Committee, the bill must still at least advance through the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government and the Rules Committee before it can reach the full Senate for a vote.
