The upcoming meeting in July by NCLGS, an acronym for the National Council of Legislators for Gaming States, will likely see Pennsylvania have a larger impact. The meeting is primarily scheduled to check on the progress and facilitate the basic objective of the committee. This pertains to helping lawmakers keep pace with technology in the ever-changing environment of gaming via education and information sharing.
NCLGS will meet at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh with several prominent members who are expected to take the chair in the Welcome to Pennsylvania panel.
The NCLGS will evaluate all the forms of gaming in the region. This includes online sports betting, lottery, retail & online casinos, video gambling terminals, and horse racing. A total of panelists will take the chair – Drew Svitko, the Executive Director of Pennsylvania Lottery; Kevin O’Toole, the Executive Director of Pennsylvania Gaming Board; Patrick Browne, the Secretary of Revenue for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue; and State Senator Jay Costa.
Shawn Fluharty, the West Virginia Delegate, will host the position of NCLGS President and the Chairman of the discussion.
Pennsylvania is eyeing to enter an elite list via the NCLGS July meeting – MSIGA. It stands for Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. Pennsylvania is not a member of MSIGA, but that status could change at the upcoming meeting. Representative George Dunbar laid the groundwork for this by introducing House Bill 2078 earlier in March.
The involvement of Pennsylvania in the Agreement will be regulated by PGCB – the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. If all the factors align favorably, Pennsylvania will join the list that houses 24 states, all of them further hosting some of the best online casinos in the USA. States that are already a part of MSIGA are Michigan, Nevada, California, New Jersey, and Delaware, to mention a few.
NCLGS has called Pennsylvania the most diverse, sophisticated, and essential gaming state, adding that it only makes sense for the top regulatory and political leaders to talk about their lessons in the summer meeting of NCLGS.
The development came after Pennsylvania proposed banning credit cards that fund sports gambling and iGaming accounts. Senate Bill 1159 has been tabled to change how players fund their accounts. The goal is to keep a check on gambling addiction. Senator Wayne Fontana said that there are more people aged between 18 and 30 years who are running their accounts to credit cards, adding that authorities must ensure that people don’t get addicted to gambling.
A total of three states have outlawed the usage of credit cards – Massachusetts, Iowa, and Tennessee.
Pennsylvania is looking to achieve two goals in July – the first is to leave a lasting impression on NCLGS, and the second is to enter MSIGA. Both are significant in their respective ways, plus for the industry’s future in the said US state.