Michigan Senator Mike Kowall remains optimistic that his proposal to legalise intrastate online poker will bear fruit this year following its first successful hearing in the state Senate Regulatory Reform Committee last week (see previous reports).
Dave Biswas, an aide on the senator’s staff revealed this week that there will likely be another airing of the bill in the Regulatory Reform Committee in the coming weeks, leading to a vote on the Senate floor and – if successful – transfer to the state House for further discussion and possibly a vote.
Biswas noted that lawmakers have a generous timeframe to complete any necessary amendments and finalise the matter in this session, which runs through to December. He said that the motives for the measure are consumer protection, the generation of additional state tax revenues and employment opportunities.
As the bill stands at present, the tax rate would be 10 percent of net revenues, and licensing would be confined to tribal and commercial land casino operators in the state, helping them to create new revenue streams.