
A different Wyoming online casino bill will return, state Rep. Bob Davis told Bonus on Feb. 15. Earlier that day, HB120 didn’t make it onto the floor because of a 25-36 vote resulting in a “failed introduction.” However, Davis says he will attempt to include the subject in standing committee discussions this summer.
Davis, R-Baggs, said to Bonus on Feb. 16:
The bill did not get enough votes to go any further in the legislative process.
He’d said on Feb. 15:
I was not able to get through introduction. It is dead for this session, but I will work to get it on the interim for 2024. Yes, I will try again. For no[w] [it] is only a temporary setback.
The advantage of the interim standing committee meetings is they combine both chambers of the Wyoming Legislature. That means all Wyoming lawmakers may be able to discuss the online casino topic.
Davis told Bonus on Feb. 16:
The bill that I tried to introduce has 2 min to explain what it covers. Then the members of the House vote to allow it to the next level, which requires 2/3 of the members to vote [aye]. I didn’t get enough votes.
An Online Casino Bill May Fare Better in 2025
In 2024, the legislature adjourns on March 8. Next year, the session will be twice as long — 40 legislative days.
Bonus studied which states legalize online casino gambling, and it’s often jurisdictions with longer sessions. Also, states that added iGaming to sports betting bills did the best at legalizing online casino and poker gambling.
It seems others agree.
Jeremy Kudon — a partner at the New York law firm of Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe — replied on X to a @BonusUpdate post. It was a summary of the Wyoming online casino bill failing to reach the floor of the Wyoming House of Representatives.
He replied with the knowledge he’s gained lobbying on behalf of iGaming and other clients.
Kudon posted on X:
In even years, Wyoming has a short legislative session. Only bills that receive two-thirds vote on the floor are allowed to be considered. Not a surprise that bill died. Same thing happened with sports betting in WY — it passed the very next year.
Wyoming legalized and launched online sports betting in 2021.
Chris Grove — a Las Vegas-based sports betting industry investor and company founder and executive — replied to Kudon:
Do you think online casino will follow that precedent?
Kudon concluded:
Yes — I’m also bullish about prospects in Democratic-controlled states over [the] next 24 months due to rapidly growing budget shortfalls and a lack of alternative revenue sources. We are going to run into unexpected obstacles/opponents along the way (as we already have), but there is exponentially more interest in online casino legalization than at any point since I started working in this space in 2015.
In even years, Wyoming has a short legislative session. Only bills that receive two-thirds vote on the floor are allowed to be considered. Not a surprise that bill died. Same thing happened with sports betting in WY – it passed the very next year.
— Jeremy Kudon (@JKudon) February 16, 2024