Talks about legalizing sports betting started in Maine as early as April 2019. However, as it always happens with bills, they get postponed. In June 2019, the ME LD 553 (in the article referred to as “The Bill”), a new gambling law regarding sports betting was passed. Since June, the law has been waiting for Governor Mills Janet’s signature. At the moment, Mills was reluctant in signing the bill but she still didn’t want to completely throw it away.
Upon the finish of the legislative session, the bill goes to hold until the following one. In the next session, according to the Constitution, the governor has three days for decision-making or the bill is automatically passed. Saying this, the new session starts on January 8th, 2020. Therefore, the Governor must react to the legislation by the end of this week.
After the last session, Mills stated that the legislature passed a lot of bills and further promised to be thorough in reviewing each and every one of the bills that were put on hold. She implied that all of the bills that she is unable to review at the current session, she will be sure to review at the start of the next legislative session, and this includes the Bill. Therefore, within this session, the Bill will surely pass through the Governor’s hands and judgment.
The Future
The Bill covering online sports gambling and retail too has taxed online gambling at 16% and not 10% as is usual. Recently, New Hampshire and Rhode Island started offering sports gambling with a lot of success in New Hampshire, where on the first day, six thousand people registered and a quarter of $ million has been waged. It seems that it is the perfect moment for Maine to join into this revenue stream.
As for the bill, two potential routes exist; one being that the bill becomes a law. In the other case, if Mills puts a veto on the Bill, the entire process will start from scratch. This means that a new bill will have to go through all of the steps that the current bill has undergone. A lot of people in the State are now waiting for the end of this week to see what will happen. Please comment below and let us know about your opinion, we highly value it!
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