New Hampshire Mulls Casino Legalization

Developments on the American gambling news scene remind us from time to time that not all states are preoccupied with iGaming legislation.

Even without debating the pros and cons online casinos, American gambling laws provide plenty of leeway to states wishing to license and regulate their own gambling activities.

While Nevada has already become the first state where domestic fans can play online poker in the US, other states, like New Hampshire, are busy debating brick-and-mortar legislative initiatives.

The small northeastern state has already made an attempt in 2010 to launch a detailed study of the potential inherent in the local gambling market, but partisan politicking managed to derail the project.

A new bill coming up for vote on Wednesday would restart and streamline the process, and includes measures like the creation of a Gaming Regulatory Oversight Authority, with a mandate to propose draft regulations by the end of the year.

New Hampshire has no land based casinos, and gambling activity is mostly limited to charitable gaming and the lottery. One of the tasks the new body would have to undertake is to evaluate the potential impact of casino gambling on existing forms of charity gaming.

Casino legalization opponents accuse the Granite State’s Democratic administration of pushing a pro-gambling agenda. The move is “a back-door attempt by the governor and her allies to keep casino gambling alive in the general court,” claims Rep. David Hess (R).

Governor Maggie Hassan’s office expressed support for the bill, simply to make sure that the whole issue was “moving forward with a timely study of regulatory oversight for one casino in order to address concerns expressed by members of the Legislature.”