If the situation turns in its favor, Rhode Island will be the seventh state to have legalized online casino gaming in the U.S. Everything now lies on the table of the Governor and the House. Previously, the bill SB 948 had been duly passed by the Senate, and a major proportion of the votes went in favor of the bill. The next stage is the floor of the House where, at the present moment in time, it has been tabled. Furthermore, the Finance Committee had almost unanimously voted in its favor.
For the slightest moment, if we consider the fact that the bill receives the green signal, it will be Bally’s singularly, which will have the responsibility of carrying out the operations related to online gaming in Rhode Island. The bill included the legalization of live online table-based games, coming with online dealers who could be situated in just about any place. This is with respect to the formality of having a single person in matters of online table-based games.
It was Dominick J. Ruggerio, the Senate President, who was responsible for the formulation and forwarding of the bill. According to him, it was imperative that Rhode Island explored ways and means of strengthening the entire gamut of online gaming and providing it with the factor of dignity. In his opinion, this online casino gaming business is responsible for a lot of revenue collection, which can be put to very good use.
As per the bill, it will become compulsory for players to get their iGaming accounts listed personally at Bally’s casino. The permissible age has been kept at 21 years and above. The games will duly be offered via the IGT platform, which already exists in the real world. An inclusion has been put in place for charging a 61% tax amount on online gaming earnings, along with a 15.5% taxation on online table games revenue collection. As per calculations carried out, this could mean an added collection to the tune of $93.3 million for Rhode Island in the initial year itself. This will only be witnessing an upward rise in times to come.
The date for the official execution of the bill has been kept for the 1st of March, 2024. There were some who went against the bill, like in the case of Teresa Tanzi, who brought up the issue of worker insulation connected with online gaming activities. If all goes according to plan, the contract will remain valid for the next twenty years.
