Michigan House committee greenlights latest betting and gaming bills
Bills must face final sign-off from Governor as amendments propose increased tax rates for local casinos
The Michigan House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee has passed a host of bills to legalize and regulate sports betting and online gaming in the state.
House representative Brandt Iden’s bills included amendments to raise sports betting tax rates to 8.75% of GGR, with an additional 3.25% for Detroit-based casinos to be invested back into the city.
The state’s tribal casinos will pay 8.75% of GGR in taxes.
Big thank you to @BrandtIden and his diligent staff for delivering on the promise to get this done. ?? for full house passage and positive discussions with @GovWhitmer moving forward! https://t.co/szj8Cfymy6
— John A Pappas (@yanni_dc) October 29, 2019
Amendments to the bills included a tiered tax rate for igaming, to be phased in over five years.
The system is dependant on a casino’s revenues, meaning smaller scale venues will pay 4% GGR, while the highest rate on the scale will be 23%.
Detroit-based casinos will pay an additional 2.5% for the city.
Representative Brandt Iden said state Governor Gretchen Whitmer had proposed a tax rate of 40%.
Iden said the new spate of bills considered the concerns of a number of industry stakeholders, including the sports leagues.
“We obviously know other states are ahead of us in relation to this issue; Indiana, Illinois have already moved forward and Ohio is quickly on our heels,” he said.
The bills must now be signed off by the full House of Representatives.
The state had passed two previous betting bills but faced push-back from the Governor over tax rates and the impact betting could have on the state lottery.