House committee unanimously recommends killing online gambling proposal
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The House Ways and Means Committee came out in opposition to a proposal to legalize online gambling in New Hampshire Wednesday, putting its odds in jeopardy.
The committee voted, 20-0, to recommend killing Senate Bill 104, which would legalize online casino games such as poker, blackjack, and roulette under the supervision of the state lottery commission, and use the proceeds toward scholarships for community college students.
Proponents had called it an innovative way to raise revenue to train more workers in the state. The proposal had been supported by DraftKings, the Boston-based sports betting and online gaming company, which would have been able to operate the online games in New Hampshire if the bill passed.
But proponents of the state’s charitable gaming operations – which operate card and table games in person and donate a portion to charity – had argued legalizing online casino gaming would hurt the revenue generated by the charity games.
Members of the Ways and Means Committee appeared to agree.
“The bill needs a lot of work,” said Rep. Fred Doucette, a Salem Republican. “We can revisit this in the future but we shouldn’t jump into the deep end of the pool on big gaming at this point.”
The committee’s unanimous recommendation will go to a floor vote in the full House at its next session in the coming weeks.
