Report: Powerful Ohio Legislator Readying iGaming Bill

Ohio has entered the online casino chat and has done so in a big way as one of its most powerful legislators is working on a bill to bring iGaming — including poker — to the Buckeye State.

Rep. Brian Stewart, the Republican chair of the House Finance Committee — in a state where Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature and the governor’s seat — told WOSU Public Media he is crafting the bill that would allow Ohioans to play casino games and poker online.

This comes on the heels of last year’s release of the 354-page Study Commission on the Future of Gaming in Ohio, a group that consisted of eight legislators as well as the director of the Ohio Lottery and the chairs of the state’s casino control and racing commissions.

While the study was more exploratory in nature as opposed to giving explicit opinions on whether iGaming should be legalized, the “pros” outlined in the document show a government that certainly seems open to the idea.

Positive findings

It highlighted the economic impact, which was estimated in the document to be as much as $410 million a year in new tax revenue for the state.

It also explored the cannibalization conundrum but came out more on the side of “won’t be an issue.” The report highlighted a study by the research and consulting firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming that concluded iGaming expands the overall gaming market and increases growth rates of gaming revenue, as well as case studies from New Jersey and Pennsylvania that showed growth across all gaming market verticals after iGaming came to those states.

It also brought up the illegal market, noting that legalizing iCasino would provide consumer protections lacking in it.

All was not rosy, as there was some anti-iCasino sentiment in the report, highlighted by JACK Entertainment saying iGaming could lead to a 10.2% drop in brick-and-mortar casino revenue based on different studies.

The operator of casinos, racinos, and sportsbooks in the state also noted that iCasino would qualify as “casino gaming” under the Ohio Constitution, which would theoretically limit it to Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, and Columbus.

Stewart is sponsor of House Bill 96, the House version of the forthcoming two-year state budget.

The budget was approved by the House but not before it made changes to Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget, including striking a proposal to double the tax rate on sports betting operators. They also nixed tax hikes on cannabis and cigarettes.

Calls to Stewart were not returned by the time this article was published.