Gambling and wagering bills discussed in Texas committee

Gambling and wagering bills discussed in Texas committee

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Gambling and wagering bills discussed in Texas committee

Two proposals were recently discussed in the Texan House of Representatives that aim to legalize sports betting and gambling in the state.

The laws in question are Texas Bill HB1942 and HB2843, both of which aim to fully legalize the pastime in the state and introduce appropriate licenses for businesses looking to offer gambling and wagering services in the online and retail verticals respectively.

HB1942 aims to introduce sports wagering licenses that would require initial application fees of half a million dollars. These certifications would last for three years, after which renewal would cost 100 thousand dollars. The bill also calls for service provider licenses, which would cost interested businesses 25 thousand dollars at first and a further 10 thousand dollars to renew.

The online sports wagering bill aims to implement an additional 10% tax on betting operators, which would be collected by the Texan Lottery Commission every month. Moreover, the proposal calls for the creation of a problem gambling fund that would dedicate 2% of the taxes and fees collected from operators to assisting people with gambling addictions.

Bill HB2843, on the other hand, calls for similar requirements for retail gambling establishments. Its proposed license application fees are tied to the required initial investment amounts of the resorts where applying casinos and sportsbooks are located. More specifically, there will be three tiers based on the size of the initial investment, with a 2 billion dollar or higher one requiring the highest fee at 2.5 million dollars. Operators within resorts that cost 1 billion dollars or more initially will be required to pay 1.25 million dollars, while sportsbooks and casinos within establishments that cost at least 250 million dollars will have to pay 500 thousand dollars.

The retail bill also aims to introduce 1 thousand dollar licenses for manufacturers of retail gambling and sports wagering equipment and for smaller operators that are not part of a large resort.

Both of the bills were very recently discussed in the Texan House of Representatives, where the committee was split on the topic. Opinions for and against the legalization of the pastime were expressed at the hearing, although if the proposals are successful in the House they will be later voted on in a few months in November.

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