Last minute Nevada licence fee hike could derail interstate plans
Majority Leader William Horne tacks increased licence fee proposals onto interstate legislation and says the state is selling "Lexus product" with a "Saturn price tag".
A last minute bill proposing to double the fee for an interactive Nevada gaming licence is threatening to derail plans to legalise interstate compacts, with sources suggesting it will fail to garner enough bi-partisan support to be passed.
Earlier this month Governor Brian Sandoval called for a bill to be introduced to allow for the state’s licensed egaming operators to accept wagers from other states and that it should be passed within 30 days, saying that New Jersey’s imminent egaming regulation means “the need to act quickly has become even more important”.
However Assemblyman William Horne, the politician tasked by Sandoval to get interstate legislation through as quickly as possible, yesterday proposed the licence fee should increase from $500,000 to $1m, and the renewal fee to $500,000 from $250,000.
The bill also proposes that operators which have previously had US-facing sites should be prohibited from obtaining interactive gaming licences.
Horne said the change to licence fees would mean Nevada remained competitive, explaining: “We are constantly espousing ourselves to the world as the gold standard in gaming. But I also believe we are selling ourselves cheap. We have this Lexus product and we’re putting this Saturn price tag on it.”
“We don’t want some average American Joe Six-Pack with a server in his garage starting an online gaming operation,” Horne said increase licence fee. “We want to have serious entrepreneurs entering this arena.”
Through his spokesperson Sandoval has made clear that he does not support the increased fee and that he “will work to resolve this issue before the legislation is passed into law”.
Horne needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass the legislation but without the Governor’s support he could see his bill fail at the first hurdle.
In the absence of federal regulation, Sandoval wants Nevada to be able to able to pool player liquidity with other states in order to boost the potential revenues for its operators. At this stage no other states have come forward publicly to suggest they would potentially partner with Nevada.
Sandoval said last Friday: “I met with Assemblyman William Horne regarding online gaming legislation. I am pleased that the Assemblyman has offered to carry legislation allowing for the establishment of online gaming in our state and help Nevada maintain its position as the gold standard in gaming.”