Louisiana House Bill 883 passed with amendments at a hearing Wednesday morning before the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee. This was the first committee hearing for HB883.
The bill essentially codifies what interpretations of state law from Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill already imply — that dual-currency gaming at sweepstakes casinos is illegal.
“HB883 is a targeted enforcement measure aimed at illegal online gambling in Louisiana,” Rep. Laurie Schlegel said Wednesday. “This bill updates our gambling by computer law to address modern online platforms, including dual currency games that function like gambling, strengthens penalties for illegal operators, and gives the Attorney General clearer tools to go after those who knowingly facilitate those unlawful activities.”
Schlegel said the bill preserves Louisiana’s legal regulated gaming framework while focusing enforcement on bad actors operating outside of the law.
Committee approves amendments to protect financial institutions
Schlegel also presented amendments that change the term “financial transaction provider” to “merchant payment processor” in HB883 and provide a definition for that term.
“The other substantive amendments provide that a platform provider does not include a federally insured financial institution, its subsidiaries or affiliates or any payment card network,” Rep. Dave Storment said. “RS 1490.3 does not apply to those institutions. It further specifies that individuals that are referenced in the bill are physically located in the state.”
Added Schlegel: “These are amendments that we’re working on with our financial institutions — like our banks, credit card networks — that are the good actors where they’re highly federally regulated and examined when it comes to illegal activity. We wanted to make sure we were targeting the bad actors, which are apparently these merchant processor — the ones colluding with these illegal gaming (operators) to do some of these merchant transactions.”
The amendment was adopted.
Support from The Cordish Companies
Mark Stewart withThe Cordish Companies and Live Casino Hotel Louisiana spoke in support of HB883.
“We all recognize the reality and the problems of this illegal activity,” Stewart said. “The question is what to do about it. In August of 2025, Attorney General Murrill and all 49 other Attorneys Generals wrote the U.S. Department of Justice urging the use of website seizures, civil injunctions, asset forfeiture, and the blocking of financial transactions as new tools to disrupt illegal operators’ access to U.S. consumers’ payment systems and digital infrastructure.
“House Bill 883 expands the enforcement focus beyond the illegal operators to the network of third-party service providers that enable those illegal operators to function. Cease-and-desist orders can be issued to marketing affiliates or other service providers. Websites for the illegal operators can be removed from platforms and certain financial transactions will be able to be blocked by payment processors.”
Stewart said all of this would be done with appropriate notice and if there’s a failure to act or comply, then there could be penalties or civil injunctions sought by the Attorney General. Where adopted, these measures have resulted in illegal operators exiting the jurisdictions.
Other activity targeting sweeps in Louisiana
Last week, Louisiana lawmakers advanced a bill that would classify sweepstakes casinos as “racketeering activity.”
The House passed House Bill 53, 86-11, which classifies certain gambling activity as racketeering. Rep. Bryan Fontenot pre-filed the bill in January, and it passed the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice last month.
HB53 now heads to the Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Judiciary. The Louisiana Legislature adjourns June 1.
Last year, the Louisiana Legislature passed Senate Bill 181 to prohibit sweepstakes casinos. Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed the bill and said state regulators already had the power to enforce state gaming laws.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board then sent more than 40 cease-and-desist letters to unregulated operators, including sweepstakes operators. The LGCB, Attorney General, and Landry all appear to believe games with sweeps already qualify as online gambling, which is illegal in Louisiana.
“Louisiana will not tolerate illegal operators who put our citizens at risk and undermine the fairness and integrity of our gaming industry,” LGCB Chairman Christopher Hebert said at the time. “We will continue to use every enforcement tool available to protect the public and uphold the law.”
The Louisiana Department of Revenue has also sued sweepstakes giant VGW and MW Services Limited for an alleged $44 million unpaid sales taxes.
