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Michigan’s Gov Rick Snyder vetoes online gambling bill

Just recently, Gutshot reported that the state of Michigan, US, had passed a bill called HB 4926 that details the legalization of online gambling in the region, including casino games, online poker and sports betting. The bill was passed in the legislative session just a week ago with a 33-5 vote count.

The bill just needed the governor of Michigan Rick Snyder’s signature for it to become a law. But in a recent twist of events, the outgoing governor vetoed the bill, along with 2 other bills (HB 4927 and HB 4928) that called for legalization of the practice.

The reasons stated by the gentleman were that the move would have major implications on the state’s financial and social impact sphere. All hopes of Michigan touted to become the next state in US to legalize online sports betting died with the governor’s veto.

The bill was bipartisan effort, but Snyder made a judgment based on personal beliefs and went against his party on the issue. In his veto letter, Snyder stated, “I am concerned that the bills will encourage gambling by making it much easier to do so. I do not think it is appropriate to sign legislation that will effectively result in more gambling, with a reasonable chance that the state could lose revenue that could be helpful in dealing with social service issues that are ordinarily attendant to increased gambling behavior. As a result, I am vetoing HB 4926, HB 4927 and HB 4928 so that the legislature and next administration can more thoroughly evaluate the revenue implications from authorizing internet gambling.”

If Snyder had signed the bill, it would have enabled the three of Michigan’s commercial casinos – MGM Grand Detroit Casino, Motor City Casino and Greektown Casino to offer online casino and poker games within the state’s borders as well. The federally recognized Indian tribes’ casinos would also have the same implications.

The two-term governor Snyder also vetoed a bill this Friday that would have created a framework to regulate fantasy sports betting, stating that he did not believe that the bill could return positive results for the state at the time.

Currently, only nine jurisdictions across US have legalized sports betting, them being – Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, West Virginia, New Mexico and Washington DC recently. Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for more legal news like this as well as for your daily dose poker news from around the planet.

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