Maryland Hearings and iDEA’s Continued Efforts in the State
On 2/26, the Maryland House held a hearing on HB 1319. Several dozen people testified both for and against the bill.
Two state-based casinos, one owned by Churchill Downs and the other by Cordish oppose the bill and have organized opposition from labor unions and are fueling cannibalization and problem gambling concerns.
Sponsor of the bill is undeterred and intends to hold subcommittee meetings to hash out revisions to the bill and bring to a full committee vote.
On 2/28 the Senate held a hearing on SB 603. The Senate lawmakers didn’t ask any questions of the dozens of witnesses (pro or con). The hearing can be viewed as procedural. All indications are that any iGaming bill will first need to move out of the House and then be negotiated in the Senate.
iDEA provided strong testimony at both hearings. Jeff Ifrah was instrumental in rebutting some of the false claims being made by opponents. We are following up with all House committee lawmakers and have already held individual meetings with likely members of the subcommittee.
We are building our messaging related to RG and the steps industry takes to protect consumers.
We are looking at job data and leveraging real-life examples of how iGaming created/saved a job.