NCLGS President Fluharty Has Eye On ‘Education Gap’ At This Week’s Summer Meeting

It has not been a robust year for legalized gambling expansion since the last summer meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, but organization President Shawn Fluharty hardly finds that discouraging.

In a busy presidential election year when lawmakers across the country are focused on their own reelection efforts, a slowdown in new legalization is to be expected before more promising efforts ramp up in 2025, says Fluharty, the Democratic whip in the West Virginia House of Delegates. He referred to 2024 as more of a year for “reflection” about how to improve upon existing gaming laws rather than create new ones.

The kick-start of new expansion could come via this week’s four-day conference of the NCLGS (“Nickel Gs” is the insider’s pronunciation for it) from Wednesday-Sunday at Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino.

More than 100 legislators and regulators from some two dozen states, plus about 200 additional participants, will be attending panel discussions on topics such as responsible gambling efforts, unregulated competition for gaming dollars from devices such as “skill games,” NCAA player protections, tribal gaming, and horse racing and lottery evolution.

But likely to gain more attention than any of those issues is the council’s own development of model legislation to cover iGaming. A committee has been at work for months to draft a version of online casino legalization, and the framework will be discussed publicly for the first time at sessions Thursday afternoon.

Making use of ‘best practices’

In an interview with Casino Reports on the eve of the conference, Fluharty said the iGaming Model Legislation Committee has held about a half-dozen meetings while reviewing best practices of states and nations with legal online casinos and consulting with industry stakeholders.

Among participants in the committee’s discussions have been David Rebuck, former director of New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, and Tim Miller, executive director of the UK Gambling Commission, an agency the NCLGS is using as an advisory partner on what legislation should look like.

The hope is that legislatures beyond those in the seven states that have already legalized will have an optimal framework to rely upon for their own discussion — and potential passage — of iGaming legislation.

“We’re trying to bring together experts that have been doing this the longest,” Fluharty said. “We’re trying to get as many people as we can in the room, take all their input, break it into bill form, and try to put out a product we think will be good.

“There are different nuances in every state, and we’re not going to solve every problem, but we can put together a solid foundation from using best practices in states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania and talking to experts on the regulatory side.”

In states that have debated bills without enactment in recent years, objections have arisen about online gambling addiction, potential brick-and-mortar cannibalization, excessive reliance by states on gambling revenue, and other concerns. Those and issues such as tax rates, market access, and skins availability will all likely need to be addressed as part of new legislation.

On Thursday, Fluharty and others from the committee won’t be presenting a final bill to the attendees. He said it will be a draft version for discussion purposes, with more input solicited from stakeholders over the next 30 days, leading to a final product to be circulated later this year.

Creating ‘champions’ to educate colleagues

Part of the challenge with any new gambling-related legislation, Fluharty noted, is the need to educate the average state lawmaker about issues with which they lack familiarity.

“I serve with colleagues who struggle to silence their phones in committee meetings, so explaining to them how you can be able to gamble on your phone takes some time,” he said with a chuckle.

That’s the benefit of lawmakers from across the country participating in the NCLGS and gaining information at its conferences, said Fluharty, who is also directly involved in the industry as head of government affairs for Play’n GO, a B2B online slots provider.

“I think those who come to ‘Nickel Gs’ are going to be the legislative champions likely responsible for sponsoring legislation and getting it through legislative committees,” he said. “The No. 1 issue for them is the education gap, especially when it comes to something like iGaming, where there is a major education gap.”

One aspect of the conference that may be different from other big meetings connected to the gaming industry is a willingness to hear from all sides that can provide useful information. An example is a panel discussion Friday, “Making a Living Off the Odds,” in which professional sports bettors Billy Walters and Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos will be giving their take on the modern industry.

“Our goal is to put forward a conference that is exciting, that tackles new subject matter, without being afraid to tackle things that are happening in the industry,” Fluharty said. “It’s a conference where decision makers meet, and chances are you’re going to be shaking hands there with someone who is actually voting on legislation or implementing regulations.”

Photo by Perry Bennett