An online-gambling bill introduced in early 2023 in Illinois' current two-year legislarive session has received a renewed House committee assignment after languishing without action for nearly months.
House Bill 2239 (HB2239) was initially introduced by Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. (D-Chicago) a full year ago. HB2239 received its initial reading at that time and was sent to the Illinois House Rules Committee, a mandatory first stop for any new legislation.
Three weeks later, at the end of February 2023, HB2239 was sent to the House Gaming Committee, a more topic-specific committee, but it was shoved to the side as the committee considered other matters deemed more pertintent to the state. Just ten days into March, the Gaming Committee essentially tabled consideration on the matter for the remainder of 2023 by re-referring it back to the Rules Committee.
The bill has a close parallel in Illinois Senate Bill 1656 (SB1656), which was also introduced in early 2023 but was shelved for many months and has only recently been reactivated for legislative consideration. SB1656, which is sponsored by Sen. Cristina Castro (D-Elgin), was re-referred in mid-January to the Illinois Senate's Executive Committee.
