Maryland Senate Does Not Vote On Proposals to Legalize Online Casinos

Maryland lawmakers are debating if they should help the state become the ninth legal jurisdiction for online casino gaming.

A State Senate committee on Wednesday reviewed several proposals that would clear a path to iGaming legalization in The Old Line State. However, the session ended without any votes on multiple bills.

Maryland’s crossover day is just 10 days away on March 23, and the session will adjourn in exactly one month on April 13, giving lawmakers little time to pass and adopt legislation this cycle.

Maryland could legalize online casinos

Sen. Ron Watson (D-23) previously introduced legislation that would legalize online casino games such as blackjack and poker. This is the third straight year that Watson has attempted to get a form of iGaming legislation over the line.

While there is support for the bills, there is also local opposition from critics who claim that online casinos would cannibalize retail casino profits.

“Maryland's gaming industry was built to support jobs, tourism, and local communities," Bobbi Jones, general manager of Ocean Downs Casino, told WBOC. “iGaming shifts gambling to phones and living rooms while putting those jobs and community investments at risk. That's not the direction Maryland should take.”

According to Watson’s Senate Bill 855, five percent of iGaming revenue would be given to local education. One percent of revenue generated through online casinos would be allocated to problem gambling programs, and another one percent would be sent to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission.

The remaining portion would be used to fund the state’s Blueprint for Education initiative, which involved billions of dollars in investments over 10 years into five pillars of education:

• Expanding early childhood education
• Increasing teacher quality and pay
• Growing college/career preparedness
• Supporting students
• Focusing on accountability

The back and forth

Maryland is home to an extremely popular retail casino, MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill. The casino services Maryland residents, along with customers from nearby Washington D.C. and affluent areas of Northern Virginia.

Live-dealer table game and  slot machine supplier Evolution Gaming, MGM National Harbor, and another high-grossing casino, Caesars Horseshoe Baltimore, spoke in support of online casino legalization. That’s despite the cries that the market would eat into retail facilities’ profits.

Evolution even claimed that it would add around 700 new jobs if Maryland expanded its casino gambling market to the online industry.

John Pappas, state advocacy director for the Development and Economic Association, a trade group supporting online gaming, said that Maryland’s opportunity to legalize online casinos grows every year.

While only seven states currently authorize legal online casinos, nearby Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are all in that mix.

Issues with black-market gambling and problem gambling still persist in the state, giving lawmakers lots to figure out in a short time.