Less than a month after introducing legislation to allow online casinos in Arkansas, bill sponsor Rep. Matt Duffield has pulled his legislation.
The House Judiciary Committee had HB1861 on the agenda for Monday’s meeting, but in advance of the session, Duffield pulled the bill. Sen. Dave Wallace previously pulled the Senate counterpart, SB524, just one day after introducing it.
The measures would have allowed the three casinos in the state to offer online casino sites in the state. Additionally, the bill would have clarified the state’s stance on sweepstakes casinos, only allowing licensed operators in the state to offer dual-currency online gaming.
The effort to legalize online casinos may be over for 2025, but there is going to be further action on the bill. The Judiciary Committee recommended the bill for a study before next year’s session.
This is the second bill with a sweepstakes component to die this year. Previously, a Mississippi bill that had broad support failed when House Rep. Casey Eure tacked online sports betting language onto the bill.
Similarly, the Arkansas effort was not a pure sweeps bill. There are a number of sweepstakes-only pieces of legislation still live around the country, including an effort in Louisiana introduced just last week.
This is not the first online casino legislation to die this year either. New Hampshire lawmaker Sen. Tim Lang pulled his own online casino legislation.
Virginia lawmakers briefly considered an online casino bill before its sponsor, Delegate Marcus Simon, “gently tabled” the bill and said lawmakers needed more time to research and study the effort before making a serious push at legislation.
Most industry experts agree the likelihood any states legalize and regulate online casinos in 2025 is slim to nil. Arkansas was a late and somewhat unexpected contender to potentially expand online casino regulation but met a swift fate with virtually no debate around the topic.
