At the very last moment, Michigan lost its chance to pass an online gambling bill in 2018. After a frantic dash to get Rep. Brandt Iden’s bill on the governor’s table before the end of the year, legislators were disappointed to learn that the bill was axed by Gov. Rick Snyder. The governor nixed all gambling related bills sponsored by Iden in a veto-frenzy which saw him knock out 40 bills in total (out of 400 which landed on his desk).
Snyder said that the online gambling bill was not clear enough and that issues such as budgeting and revenue were behind his decision. The governor said that he was concerned that online gambling had the potential to cannibalize the land-based industry in Michigan, and could also threaten the industry’s online lottery industry.
Pro-online gamblers now have to wait until January 9th, 2019 for the next session to begin in order to start pushing their campaign once more. The good news is that Rick Snyder will be leaving his post and the new governor, Gretchen Whitmer will be replacing him. The less positive news is that her opinions on online gambling are a mixed bag. It has been predicted that the online gambling issue will not be a priority for the Democrat governor. On the other hand, the incoming governor supports sports betting in Michigan, a fact which she stated during her election campaign.