Supporters of expanding casino gambling to online table games in Rhode Island are hoping they hold the necessary cards of persuasion to get iGaming legislation passed as the General Assembly session winds down, but critics are arguing that the bills raise red flags.
Companion measures in the House and Senate, if approved and signed by Gov. Daniel J. McKee, would open the door to online games such as poker and blackjack, allowing bettors to gamble remotely within the state’s borders.
The legislation would legalize iGaming starting Jan. 1 and would give International Game Technology PLC and casino operator Bally’s Corp. big slices of the revenue.
While the iGaming proposal was greeted warmly by legislative leaders in February, the legislation wasn’t introduced into both chambers until late April, and hearings took place before the Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs Committee on May 10 and the House Finance Committee on May 23.
Neither committee took immediate action, and the leadership sounded noncommittal afterward.
Larry Berman, spokesperson for House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, said the speaker “will evaluate the testimony … and then discuss the legislation with the committee members and his House colleagues.”
Greg Pare, spokesperson for Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, offered a one-line response to a PBN inquiry.
“We continue to work on all aspects of the iGaming bill,” he said.
To bolster its case for expansion, Bally’s commissioned a study that purports tax revenue from iGaming could reach $210 million in the first five years.
Ruggerio’s chief legal counsel, Steven Hayes, noted the importance of gambling revenue for the state during the Senate committee hearing on May 10, pointing out that $388 million was added to state coffers from gambling in 2022.
Bally’s Vice President of Government Relations Elizabeth Suever testified that the expansion of gambling in other states has put Rhode Island’s revenue stream “under attack.”
“We are looking to access gaming by a different means,” she said.
But Thomas Joyce, president of the Rhode Island Council on Problem Gambling, expressed worry that the demographic attracted to app-based gambling would be youngsters, and some lawmakers voiced concerns that the legislation would allow people as young as 18 to gamble online.
Some critics have argued that the proposed expansion requires a statewide referendum. R.I. Lottery Director Mark A. Furcolo said in a letter to the Senate committee that while the agency supports iGaming, the legislation as drafted “is likely unconstitutional.”
Union officials who represent workers at Bally’s Twin River Lincoln Casino and Bally’s Tiverton Casino & Hotel want assurances that iGaming won’t cost jobs at the casinos, and others such as Furcolo have predicted that online gambling could “cannibalize” existing revenues.
The argument held sway among some state senators.
“We’ve done all of this stuff to entice people to go [to the casinos],” said Sen. Elaine J. Morgan, R-Charlestown. “So now we are trying to say ‘Stay home and blow $15,000 in your bathroom in 10 minutes?’ ”
Under the proposal, the state would receive 50% from online slots and 18% from table gaming. At the casinos, the state now collects 61% of the income at the slots and 12.7% on table games.
“This actually just grows the pie,” Suever said. “It doesn’t cut into revenues.”
Committee member Sen. Linda Ujifusa, D-Portsmouth, said that studies have estimated that over 50% of gambling revenue comes from problem gamblers, and that those with lower incomes outspend higher-income earners four-fold.