Ohio Congressman Rep. Mike Rulli has an idea for what to do with the 0.25% handle tax on sportsbook operators.
The lawmaker announced this week that he has introduced The Giving Alien Migrants Back Through Lawful Excise Redistribution (GAMBLER) Act, which would allocate the money generated from the federal sports betting tax to establish the Border Enforcement Trust Fund, which would help to fund Immigration and Customs Enforement (ICE).
Excise tax would help fund border security
According to his social media, the bill would help to fund border security.
“No new taxes. No more excuses. This bill gives ICE the backup it needs to enforce the law and restore order,” he wrote.
Rulli introduced the bill and already has a co-sponsor in Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas. However, while the bill has been introduced, there is currently no text available. It has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee on the Judiciary.
“It’d be a shame to take all that money and put it in the general fund, and it would just be lost when we could use it just for our border [needs], which we all saw in this last election is the No. 1 issue in the country,” Rulli told Fox News.
Other lawmakers have excise tax bills
Currently, the roughly $300 million generated by the federal excise tax does not have an assigned purpose, which has been a source of consternation for Rep. Dina Titus.
Titus, who represents Nevada, has been trying for nearly a decade to abolish the federal excise tax.
“I once asked the IRS where the revenue from the handle tax went in the federal budget and they didn’t even know,” Titus noted when she reintroduced her bill earlier this year.
In 2024, Sen. Neil Blumenthal and Rep. Andrea Salinas introduced the Gambling Addiction Recovery, Investment and Treatment (GRIT) Act, which proposed using the federal excise tax to fund problem gambling initiatives nationwide.
Groups including the American Gaming Association came out in opposition of the measure, advocating for the repeal of the tax and addressing problem gambling at the state level.
