Michigan online poker bill moves forward

The Michigan House Regulatory Committee has voted in favour of the online poker bill and sent it to the House floor.

US.- The House of Representatives is set to debate the online poker bill HB 4926 after the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee aproved the proposed legislation. If it passes, the bill will go to the Senate, before heading to the governor’s desk for final approval.

“It’s most likely not going to be passed out of the House this year,” a committee clerk confirmed, despite rumours of the bill being voted on this Thursday. HB 4926 was expected to be treated by the end of October, according to State Rep. Brandt Iden, who confirmed in an interview with media outlet Card Player that his plans were to get it out of the Committee by that time.

Lawmakers have been debating the issue for several months and another bill, backed by Sen. Mike Kowall, even cleared a Senate committee in March. Rep. Iden explained that Kowall’s bill “appears to be stalled on the Senate floor for support” and said: “We thought that we’d strategically try to work this through the House.”

According to Iden, the bill needs the states casinos, commercial and tribal support in order to get the bill to pass: “If I can get all those individuals to the table and supporting it we’ll be able to pass this in the House and Senate and get the governor to sign it without threat of a veto,” he said.

“I want to give this the proper time in order to work with the casinos and make sure we have the right language in the legislation that they can support,” Iden added.