Illinois full Senate set to discuss bill to allow in-state college sports bets

An Illinois State senate committee revived a gambling bill on Wednesday with the purpose of allowing for a limited betting on in-state college sports teams, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. 

If Senate Amendment 2 to House Bill 3136 passes both the House and Senate, it would become law once signed by the governor; thus allowing a business with a sports betting license to legally  to take a bet on an Illinois college team, provided the bet is made at a betting facility, rather than online.

Only “Tier 1” wagers would be accepted on in-state teams, meaning it is “determined solely by the final score or final outcome” of a sporting event, and it must have been filed before the start of the game. Bets on an individual’s performance in an in-state game will not be allowed. 

The bill also adds fire protection districts to the list of entities that can receive a charitable raffle license, and WinTrust Arena would be eligible to apply for a sports betting license. 

In-state collegiate betting would be a “pilot program” set for repeal on July 1, 2023, unless the General Assembly extends it. 

It also caps an annual fee that non-home rule municipalities can charge on video gaming terminals at $250 up from $25. It would also prohibit municipalities from taxing video gambling machines or bets placed on the machines, an action commonly referred to as “push tax”. Even though it would allow for municipalities that had enacted such a tax as of November 1 to continue to charge it, it would prohibit them from increasing or expanding it. 

A similar measure passed the House on the final day of the May legislative session. However, the Senate did not bring it for a vote at the time. The unanimous approval from the Senate Executive Committee came one day before the General Assembly was scheduled to adjourn for the year. 

Bill sponsor, Senator Bill Cunningham spoke before the Committee on Wednesday and said that he is working with members of the House “to achieve some level of agreement” on the bill, reported Capitol News Illinois. 

Cunningham said the bill would also allow for online registration for sports gambling applications beginning March 5, 2022. The initial sports gambling legalization bill required that accounts be created at a gambling facility, although the requirement was temporarily halted during the pandemic.

“There was concern that's been brought up that the date for allowing that online registration to occur is nebulous in the current statute and could push online registration well into the spring and the summer,” Cunningham said. “That would potentially cost the state millions of dollars in revenue.”

In terms of municipalities’ taxes, Cunningham said that since the bill was considered in May, 10 municipalities have enacted push taxes.

“It should be pointed out that there is pending litigation on this matter right now. And it is unclear whether or not the courts are going to allow these municipalities to impose that tax”. 

The bill also allows fraternal organizations, such as VFW posts and American Legions, to apply for gambling machine licenses, even if the municipality in which they reside has a local ban on them. Those provisions would not apply, however, to such facilities in Chicago and Cook County.