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A bill to legalize online casino gaming in New Hampshire has survived one state Senate committee, but with an important update to its language. The committee’s endorsement dependent on an amendment to the distribution of tax revenue.
The new language of the bill explicitly states that charities that contract with gaming licensees in New Hampshire will get a cut of online casino revenue. That provision could do as much to facilitate the bill’s passage as benefit charities in New Hampshire.
In its original form, the bill received criticism due to the perception that it was cutting out the charities that receive revenue from the state’s retail casinos. Bill sponsor, Sen. Tim Lang, has said that was never his intent.
SB 168 clears Ways and Means
On Feb. 12, the Ways and Means committee reported out SB 168 favorably as amended by a 3-2 vote. Lang chairs the committee and recommended an amendment that was similar to the one now attached to the legislation.
The amendment as approved by the committee substitutes the section in Lang’s original draft that specified how tax proceeds from legal iGaming in New Hampshire should be spent. During the Ways and Means committee’s Feb. 5 hearing on SB 168, Lang stated that it was a necessary change to correct an oversight in his draft and he wanted to emphasize inclusion of charitable organizations in the state.
The proposal still imposes a 45% tax rate on iGaming revenue but now splits those funds 65%-35%, with charities that contract with gaming licensees in New Hampshire receiving the lesser split.
The other 65% goes to the state, with the distribution of those funds resembling Lang’s original framework.
The breakdown is:
- 50% to the general fund
- 25% to the elderly, disabled, blind, and deaf exemption reimbursement fund
- 25% to a special fund
SB 168 is currently pending reassignment for more consideration before it can potentially proceed to the full Senate floor for a vote. The amendment from Ways and Means might behoove its chances moving forward.
Charity measure might strengthen Lang’s case for SB 168
One of the common arguments against Lang’s proposal has been that charities that rely on their share of gaming proceeds will see declines in their revenues as a result of legal online casino play. In New Hampshire, brick-and-mortar gaming facilities must share revenue with such organizations.
SB 168 already required iGaming operators to contract with those facilities, ensuring charities a cut of the action before the amendment that Ways and Means added. However, the amendment could increase that revenue and potentially enshrines the 35% threshold.
There are other issues that Lang will need to confront as he pushes for SB 168’s passage. As an example, a 2024 study commissioned by the state and performed by Spectrum Gaming Group recommended that New Hampshire hold off on further gaming expansion until 2031 when a current moratorium on new casino licenses expires to avoid licensees cannibalizing each other.
While SB 168’s fate is still very tentative, it has cleared the first hurdle. Future criticisms of the bill cannot honestly claim that Lang has ignored charities in his proposal.
