While it didn’t pass this year, officials discussed the negative impact an internet gaming bill could have in Worcester County if it is reconsidered at the state level next year.
Worcester County’s Local Development Council, the committee that reviews how local jurisdictions use casino revenues, talked this week about how House Bill 1319, internet gaming authorization and implementation, would have hurt Ocean Downs Casino if it had passed. Del. Wayne Hartman said the bill or a version of it could come up again during next year’s legislative session.
“There’s no guarantee it isn’t coming back,” he said. “This state has a spending problem.”
The Worcester County Commissioners in February wrote letters of opposition to HB 1319, citing the way the bill would threaten brick-and-mortar institutions like the casino, fuel gambling addictions and result in lost revenues locally. Hartman said that while it was obvious from the start the bill was going to pass in the House, he’d worked with others to ensure there were some amendments that made it less problematic. He pointed out that the House was primarily made up of Democrats but that Republicans did what they could.
“We make bad things better,” he said.