The governor of Illinois has signed into a law a new wide-ranging budget which includes new tax thresholds for sports betting operators.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker approved the US$53.1bn plan which moves operators onto a sliding scale for tax collections based on their gross gaming revenue.
After the sports betting tax bill was passed to the state’s House in May, the Sports Betting Alliance said the sliding scale will lead to “worse products, worse promotions and, inevitably, worse odds for Illinois customers.”
It added that the new system will have “devastating effects for operators’ in-state partners.”
However, as quoted by the Associated Press, Pritzker said Illinois is on a “trajectory of sustainable, long-term growth” and that the budget “boosts us further in the right direction.”
House Speaker Pro Tempore Jehan Gordon-Booth, a key advocate of the budget, said: “You’re going to continue to see we are investing not just for today, not just ensuring that we have balanced budgets, ensuring that we are keeping the trains on time and keeping the lights on. But we’re making investments for the future.”
