Twin Illinois iGaming bills introduced

Illinois has become the latest US state to begin consideration of online gambling legislation, including online poker, following the introduction of matching iGaming House and Senate bills on Friday.

State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez filed House Bill 3080 and State Sen. Cristina Castro offered its twin, Senate Bill 1963, in a state where legislators toyed with legalizing casino-style online gambling in earlier years but have repeatedly punted the concept down the road in favor of other gambling forms.

Over a decade ago, Illinois was one of the states that lobbied hard for the overturning of the 1961 Wire Act, which prohibited most forms of online gambling. The state's interests then were driven by its planned expansion into online lottery sales. More recently, the state has approved both live and online sportsbetting, along with the licensing of several live casino venues, including a controversial casino in downtown Chicago.

IGaming took a back seat to those legislative pushes, but now, with Illinois facing large budget deficits of up to $3 billion for fiscal year 2026, Governor JB Pritzker has deemed iGaming a concept “worthy of consideration." Senator Castro, the lead sponsor of SB 1963, said, "In a tough budget year, you’re looking at ways to increase revenue. This is one tool for that.” Castro, from the district including Elgin's Grand Victoria Casino, joined Chris Moneymaker at the opening of GVC's revamped poker room in 2022.

The bill's proponents, including Castro, believe that iGaming could add $800 million per year to the state's coffers within a few years of being approved.

Bills include player-pooling provisions

Both HB 3080 and SB 1963 include language that would allow Illinois to pool its online poker players with those in other regulated jurisdictions through an entity such as MSIGA, the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement.

As introduced, the bills would authorize any of the state's casinos or horseracing tracks to offer up to three iGaming skins each. Each license would require a $250,000 licensing fee, to be renewed in accordance with the renewal of licensing for the parent entity's land-based venue. Net revenue would be taxed at a middle-of-the-road 25% rate.

As with most other regulated US states, the bills call for an age-21 minimum and for gamblers to be physically present in the state. Both bills have received their initial committee assignments but no hearings or votes have been scheduled for either measure. Illinois's legislature meets for two-year sessions, meaning that this year's iGaming push has until well into 2026 to become law.