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To put on the ballot or not put on the ballot? That is a question Rhode Islanders heard five years ago when the state legalized sports betting through a state lottery app. Now the question is back with iGaming legislation at stake.
State lawmakers who want to legalize iGaming this legislative session appear to think no ballot question is necessary.
Senate President Dominick Ruggerio is the lead sponsor of SB 948, which would legalize iGaming starting Jan. 1, 2024. Like online sports betting, online casino slots and table games in Rhode Island would be authorized by statute. Games would be offered through the IGT platform by Bally’s, which operates both brick-and-mortar casinos in the state. The Rhode Island Lottery would be the chief regulator.
No referendum is required under Ruggerio’s iGaming bill.
Ruggerio made his opinion about the need for a referendum known in 2019 when the state’s 2018 betting law was challenged on the basis that voters hadn’t approved sports betting first. According to the Associated Press, Ruggerio countered by saying voter approval of casino-style games in 2012 and 2016 cleared the way for sports betting (although the referendum never specifically mentioned sports betting). The state’s courts agreed when they ruled against the lawsuit in 2020.
Still, it could take considerable effort if Ruggerio (and sponsors of a companion bill to SB 948 pending in the House) intend to pass iGaming before legislators leave Providence on June 30.
RI Lottery Boss Questions Legality of iGaming Proposal
Apparently, some opposition is coming from the Rhode Island Lottery itself. According to a story in the May 12 Providence Journal, RI Lottery director Mark Furcolo thinks the legislation is “likely unconstitutional.” Furcolo said the legislation needs additional “authorization.”
“While the Rhode Island Lottery believes there is a legislative path for authorizing iGaming and is supportive of iGaming, it is (our) position that the bill as drafted is likely constitutional and must be revised to conform with the authorization under the 2012 and 2016 Voter Referendums related to casino gaming,” said Furcolo, according to the Journal.
It was Furcolo that had expressed in April how pleased he is with the state’s five-year sports betting program, which includes online betting powered by IGT and William Hill and retail betting hosted at Bally’s two casinos. The RI Lottery announced on April 10 that it had signed a three-year contract extension with IGT.
“As one of the first U.S. lotteries to launch sports betting, Rhode Island Lottery is very pleased with the successful program we have built over the last five years, backed by IGT’s world-class technology and William Hill’s operator experience,” said Furcolo.
But iGaming as proposed in both bills now before lawmakers would be different. Bally’s would be the exclusive iGaming partner without any master contract for the lottery, Furcolo has been reported as saying by the Providence Journal. He has also expressed concerns about online casino games eating into lottery mobile instant ticket sales.
Path to Rhode Island iGaming Uncertain
Furcolo may not have much to worry about when it comes to the current proposals. Right now both bills are stalled in their respective committees in the Senate and House. SB 948 received its first hearing in the Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs Committee on May 10 but did not receive the go-ahead.
Instead, the committee recommended that the bill be “held for further study.”
To understand what that could mean, one need only look back at a 2010 Cranston Herald op-ed written by late Rhode Island State Rep. Rod Driver, who served in the House from the 1980s to the mid-1990s and again in 2009-2010. Driver wrote that a committee vote to “hold for further study” all but dooms the bill unless a powerful lawmaker forces a committee vote.
“Passage of the motion to ‘hold for further study’ actually kills a bill unless the Speaker of the House (in the case of the lower chamber) authorizes a real committee vote,” Driver wrote. SB 948 is in committee in the Senate where another top lawmaker – Ruggerio, the bill sponsor – is in charge.
It remains to be seen if a vote will ultimately be taken in the committee, or any other committee, on the bill before this session’s end.
State tax revenue generated by iGaming could reach $210 million in the first five years by some estimates.
Right now iGaming is legal in only six states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Other states that have considered iGaming legislation this year include New York, Indiana, and New Hampshire.
