Internet Gaming - Authorization and Implementation
HB17 would authorize and regulate internet gaming in Maryland, allowing the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to license qualified applicants to offer casino-style gaming online through computers, mobile devices, and other interactive devices. The bill establishes a detailed licensing and regulatory framework covering eligibility, ownership and control restrictions, background checks, technical standards, data security, advertising limits, age verification, and responsible gaming requirements. It also authorizes the Governor, on recommendation of the Commission, to enter into multijurisdictional internet gaming agreements with other governments under specified conditions.
The bill is structured to direct most internet gaming revenue into education and related public purposes. It routes proceeds to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund, while also allocating money to the Problem Gambling Fund, the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, county governments for education funding, the Small, Minority, and Women-Owned Businesses Account, and gaming-related accounts supporting racing and video lottery facilities. HB17 also creates a Video Lottery Facility Employee Displacement Fund to assist workers displaced by the expansion of internet gaming, including wage supplements, job training, and other support.
HB17 would add a new Subtitle 1F to the State Government Article and amend several existing statutes in the Economic Development, Education, and Labor and Employment Articles to integrate internet gaming into Maryland’s gaming and education funding structure. It would expand the Commission’s authority to license and regulate online casino-style gaming, create new revenue distribution rules, and establish a new special fund for displaced video lottery employees. The bill also modifies unemployment benefit calculations so that payments from the displacement fund are not counted as wages, and it adjusts education funding provisions so counties account for internet gaming proceeds in their local school funding obligations beginning in fiscal year 2027.
The bill’s design suggests a generally supportive policy approach toward legalization, with a strong emphasis on education funding, social equity, minority and women-owned business participation, and consumer protections. Even without recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the structure of the bill indicates an effort to frame internet gaming as a revenue-generating expansion of commercial gaming with safeguards for problem gambling and displaced workers. The referendum requirement also suggests the proposal is intended to be decided directly by voters, reflecting the significance and sensitivity of the policy change.
The main points of contention are likely to be the expansion of commercial gambling itself, the potential impact on existing video lottery facilities and nearby businesses, and the adequacy of protections for workers and vulnerable gamblers. The bill anticipates these concerns by creating a displacement fund, requiring responsible gaming tools, and mandating studies and reports on the effects of internet gaming and similar online gaming products. Another likely area of debate is the bill’s social equity and ownership requirements, including preferential licensing structures and diversity goals, which may draw support from advocates of inclusion but concern from existing gaming operators or applicants that do not meet the criteria.