Back in July, the state of New Hampshire decided to legalize online lottery gaming and now it seems online gaming is up for consideration. Legislature will be reviewing H 562 on October 25th during an executive session, which could be a positive sign for the state to become the next to offer online casino and poker gaming in the US.
The state has already shown they are willing to expand into the realm of online gaming by passing online lottery legislation last summer. In January of this year, HB 562 was introduced and was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee just a few weeks later. The bill was unable to move forward in February and now, it will be reviewed during the upcoming executive session, according to PokerNewsDaily.
Lawmakers will then have to decide if they will choose to select ‘ought to pass’, ‘ought to pass as amended’, inexpedient to legislate’, ‘refer to interim study’ or ‘re-refer to committee’. If lawmakers choose ‘inexpedient to legislate’, the bill would be dead. This would not be the ruling proponents of online gaming for the state would want to see take place. Best case scenario would be for lawmakers to choose ‘ought to pass as amended’.
The bill as it stands is basically a skeleton with very little content currently within the language of the measure. The bill does not specifically state which games are to be legalized but generalizes ‘gambling done over an internet connection on a website on the internet’.
If the measure is able to pass, it would take effect on the 1st of January next year. The state would need to decide on rules and regulations first before gaming could take place. Once the rules and regulations are decided, one would assume that operators would be required to be approved for licensing, software tested and approved, among other steps before the industry could actually begin to take shape and offer gaming options for real money online. It will be interesting to see next week what lawmakers decide and if New Hampshire will be one step closer to legalizing online gaming.
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