New York and South Carolina are looking to tackle the same legal issues concerning gambling these days. Both states are trying to pass new bills that will allow sports betting in the case of New York and in the case of South Carolina, casino gaming and horse racing as well. The New York State Senate saw S01282 proposed by five Democrats, while in South Carolina State Representative Todd Rutherford put forward House Joint Resolution H3102. Both bills aim to amend the respective state constitution so as to allow for regulated sports betting. Considering the fact that there is a federal ban on sports betting outside of the territory of Nevada, there is not much that these amendments can do, unless the ban is lifted by the US Supreme Court.

According to the New York Amendment, S01282 which is put forward by Senator Tony Avella, the state Senate should decide whether or not they will allow legal sports betting on professional and college sports at casinos, racetracks and off-track gambling houses. This is not the first attempt of Tony Avella to try and pass such legislation, however, not one of his previous attempts had any success. The main catch is that any law that state passes cannot bypass Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).

The amendment of South Carolina introduced by Representative Todd Rutherford plans to introduce not only sports betting but also casino gaming activity and horse racing. Currently the State of South Carolina allows only for lottery, bingo on tribal land and casino cruises, which does not include brick-and-mortar casinos. Representative Rutherford proposed H3102 which will have to pass with the majority of votes in the houses and then the referendum.

The main obstacle in both cases is exactly, the aforementioned PASPA, also known as the “Bradley Act” brought in 1993, according to which sports betting is illegal in all states, with the exception of those states that legalized it before the law was brought: Oregon, Delaware, Montana and Nevada. Recently there have been many attempts by several states to repeal PASPA but they were unsuccessful. New Jersey has been trying for years to legalize sports betting but unfortunately it was all in vain. What makes matters even worse for New Jersey is that they had a chance to legalize it at the time PASPA was adopted and they failed to use it. However, New Jersey is not giving up. Their latest appeal with the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals is yet to be dealt with and the outcome of this appeal will largely influence New York’s and South Carolina’s plans for legalizing sports betting.

Another US state that is tackling legal issues concerning gambling is Massachusetts which is considering legalizing online gambling activities such as USA online casinos, fantasy sports and daily fantasy sports. State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg is planning to propose a bill that would allow online gambling and generate more revenue from gambling. The time frame gives her until summer to specify the state’s view on regulating online casino games including real money slots.

Pennsylvania is looking to finally solve the issue of online gambling and regulate the market within the state borders. After much turmoil and heated debates over the proposed House bills for legalizing online gambling last year, it seems that there finally is a bright future for regulating online gambling activity in the state. Senator Jay Costa has announced the new bill concerning gaming activity which will touch upon issues such as licenses and tax for online gambling and daily fantasy sports (DFS).

The long-fought battle of pushing the online gambling bill to pass the Senate was initiated by Representative John Payne who retired by the end of last year without seeing his bill passed. The burning issue was the local tax share which was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The tax share involved a fee of $10 million or 2% for revenue higher than $500 million. The Senate reacted to fix the issue, but they by-passed the proposed Payne’s bill and included this new amendment into the previous HB 1887 which did not include clear regulations on internet gambling. The year ended with no clear answer from the Senate regarding HB 2150, which means that Payne’s battles need to be fought all over again starting from point zero, that is, drafting a new bill and sponsoring it from the start.

However, it seems that Payne’s advocating will not be in vain, as Senator Jay Costa has proposed a new bill which tends to solve more or less the same issues as the previous two bills proposed in 2016, including tax fix, daily fantasy sports, online gambling activities such as internet casinos and online lottery.

Senator Costa made this announcement following the discussion regarding online gambling with Senator Kim Ward. The newly-drafted piece of legislation intends to solve local gaming tax issues and propose license fees for land-based casinos. The current number of brick-and-mortar casinos in the state of Pennsylvania is twelve, though not all of them are expected to apply for an online casino license. Those who do apply will have to pay the fee of $10 million which amounts to a number of $100 million for the state, should 10 casinos apply for licenses as it is predicted. Under the new bill, online platforms of independent vendors will also be subject to licensing at the cost of $5 million. As for the taxes, any revenue generated from online gambling activity will be subject to a tax of 25%. Senator Costa also included the regulation of daily fantasy sports proposing a licensing fee of $2.5 million and a tax rate of 25% and the possibility of organizing online lottery.

This is definitely a good sign for all Pennsylvania players, as they are finally looking at the prospect of gambling at regulated USA online casinos, however, it is yet unclear whether the new legislation will allow online poker.

The turmoil around online gaming in the USA continues, as the opponents of legalized online gambling are trying to use the current political circumstances and flip the coin over to their side. Ten state attorney generals have addressed the Presidential transition team, namely Vice President-Elect Mike Pence with the urge to reinstate America’s Wire Act from 1961 where all forms of online gambling would be banned except DFS (daily fantasy sports) and betting on horse racing. While President-Elect Trump has not yet expressed any attitude on this issue, the advocates of online gambling have already stepped up with counter arguments. Nevada Representative Dina Titus fought back with the same weapon also sending a letter to Pence explaining why online gambling should not be banned.

Currently, online gambling is legally regulated in three states: Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware while there are several other states interested in legalizing online gambling such as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Online casinos from these three states are the only fully regulated and legal USA Online Casinos where online gambling is allowed at the state level and regulated and licensed by a United States government body.

Restoration of America’s Wire Act would ban online gambling on a federal level where only daily fantasy sports and horse racing would be legal in the governments eyes. This bill was proposed in 2015 to the Congress spurred on by the biggest opponent of online gambling, land-based casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. Now the advocates of banning online gambling are set to use the transition period in the White House and put the proposal on the table again. This resulted in ten Attorney Generals signing a letter in which they appeal to the Vice President and Presidential transition team to acknowledge the dangers of online gambling. Some of the reasons stated in the letter are the fact that online gambling can cause addiction and result in divorce, domestic violence and even suicide. The letter emphasizes the problem of youth being overly exposed to gambling which cannot be controlled in case of remote gambling. Furthermore they point out the dangers of increased criminal activity and money laundering.

According to Nevada Congresswoman, Dina Titus this letter contains misinformation and inaccuracies so she felt obligated to clarify these points and give counter arguments. In her letter, Titus points out that the online gambling industry is responsible for the operation of the largest companies in the world as well as many smaller casinos. Banning online gambling would have a detrimental effect on employment and the economy of these states.

Furthermore, she explains that the internet gambling activity is strictly regulated and monitored, and “there are extensive consumer protections in place that are enforced by state law enforcement authorities”. Concerning the problem of youth gambling Titus noted: “In Nevada, where there are effective controls in place to verify age and location, there has not been a single reported instance of minors playing poker online.”

One important question comes up amidst this ongoing debate. What is the role of Sheldon Adelson in this matter? The casino billionaire is known to be a fierce advocate of banning online gambling and he has sponsored many initiatives in that direction. Given that he also contributed financially to the Republican presidential campaign, there are speculations that his chances of banning online gambling are higher than ever.

So what does this all mean to the USA online casino player?

In short it really means nothing. Only if you live in Nevada, New Jersey or Delaware are you able to play at an online casino or poker room which is regulated and licensed by a United States governing body. The rest of us who live outside these three states all use offshore online casinos where you can play real money online casino games anytime the mood strikes. Play real money slots, table games and video poker and do so at the best and most reputable USA online casinos available. These online casinos are all licensed and regulated and USA players can enjoy all the games they offer. Some USA online casinos even offer live casino games where you can play popular games like blackjack and roulette against a real person using a live streaming feed.

Get started at the best USA online casinos available and enjoy all the games they offer. As more news becomes available on the progress of getting real money USA online casinos regulated and licensed by individual states or on a federal level we will surely pass that information on here. In the meantime enjoy playing at our top recommended online casinos, all of which welcome USA residents and players.

Pennsylvania gaming bill under the name House Bill 2150 that is supposed to legalize and regulate online gaming including online casinos and daily fantasy sport (DFS) might be revisited on a hearing this week and possibly approved by the Senate. In June this year the bill passed the House of Representatives, but the final approval by the senate and the governor is still pending. It is estimated that by approving the bill the state would benefit from the revenue of up to $100 million from online gambling and DFS thanks to license fees and tax. The last window for this year closes on Wednesday 26th, which is marked as the final legislative session in 2016.

Online Gambling and DFS Bill Made it Halfway to the Senate

There have been many attempts to introduce a bill to legalize online gambling, but the only one that resonated and received the attention of the lawmakers was the one proposed by Representative John Payne who introduced the House Bill 2150 this year in June. The bill to allow online gambling and daily fantasy sports including online slot machines at airports passed the House of Representatives with the voting result 114-85. However, that is not to say that everything went smoothly. The bill had to be amended, that is to exclude the part about Video Game Terminals that would allow bars and taverns to offer video games, but the problem was that this would mean that they would need to acquire liquor license as well. This part of the bill was not acceptable so the bill was not approved by the House of the Representatives until it was eliminated from the draft.

Following the approval of the Representatives, the House Bill 2150 was only a few steps away from being put in motion. It required the approval of the senate and the signature of the Governor. This was expected to be solved by July, but unfortunately, the issue is still open.

The Window Is Slowly Closing

This week is the last chance for the bill to be approved by the Senate in the current year, being that October 26th is the last session for this year. The prospects are still unclear but the sponsor of the bill Rep. Payne who will be retired by the end of next month is optimistic about his bill being passed before he withdraws from the political scene.

According to Rep. John Payne, the significance of the bill reflects in the financial benefit that it will bring to the state budget. Furthermore he adds that many online casino operators are operating out of state on neighboring legalized markets. By legalizing online gambling Pennsylvania would generate revenue of $100 million and remain competitive.

The casinos interested in expanding their offering to online niche would have to acquire a five-year license at the cost of $8 million, while the licence would be subject to renewal fees of $250,000. In addition to this, any partner of theirs providing technology or content would also have to acquire a licence which would cost $2 million while renewal fees would be $100,000.