Whitmer Shows Interest In Legalizing Online Gambling

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

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Last updated: December 27, 2019

The lovers of online gambling and sports betting in Michigan may just be about to receive the best Christmas ever because the legalization of online gambling and sports betting situation seems to finally make some progress.

Placing a sports bet online © FirmBee/Pixabay

In other words, the Michigan Senate Regulatory Reform Committee approved the online gambling and sports betting bill of the state just a few days ago, setting up senate votes accompanied by the House of Representatives game votes.

Digital gamblers from Michigan have seen this particular situation before, just to have their dreams cruelly shattered last December when Michigan’s Governor at the time, Rick Snyder, vetoed the measure at the last minute. The good thing is that the New Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has recently started her plan to sign all measures as soon as they appear on her desk.

Whitmer previously showed her interest in overly high tax rates to guarantee that the new options would not be consumed in the online games of the Michigan Lottery. On the other hand, State Republican Brandt Iden, one of the key movers behind the gaming legalization initiatives in Michigan, seems to have figured out a plan for legalizing online gambling and sports betting that all sides would be happy with.

The Starting Tax Fee for Casinos Will Be Starting at 20%

According to a new version that was approved by the committee just a few days ago, online gambling operators would pay a tiered tax rate for annual revenue below $4 million starting at 20 percent. The rate for revenue rises to 22 percent between $4 million and $8 million, rising in increments of 2 percent to a 28 percent increase over revenue above $12 million.

On the other hand, in the previous versions of the bill presented by Iden the starting rate was 12% and the maximum was 23%, however, three commercial operators in Detroit, as well as, the state’s tribal casinos considered this suggestion not good enough.

The casinos have managed to find some solution in which they will be allowed to exclude some of their free-play bonus rewards to customers while measuring their gross revenue. Those losses in the first three years can not surpass 10% of sales, dropping to 6% in the fourth year and to 4% in the fifth year.

The casinos have picked up a small discount on their sports betting tax rate, which fell from 8.75% to 8.4%. The gambling bill maintains the controversial demands for all sportsbooks to use the data provided by the league for in-play wagering purposes so that the leagues allow such data available on ‘commercially reasonable terms.

Tiffany Brown Spoke on Behalf of Michigan’s Governor

In terms of whether the bill this time would for real be signed by the governor, the spokeswoman of Governor Whitmer, Tiffany Brown said Tuesday that Whitmer saw the current legislative drafts as a successful, comprehensive compromise and the governor is looking forward to reviewing this package closely once it reaches her desk.

Taking this into consideration, the chances that the online gambling lovers of Michigan could expect the best Christmas gift they could imagine – legalization of online gambling and sports betting within their state.