Two prohibitive online gambling bills were presented to Indiana's legislature this session, although neither made it very far in either chamber of the state's General Assembly.
Rep. Jerry Denbo (D) on Jan. 13 introduced House Bill 1172, a bill that would have criminalized online gambling by citizens of Indiana by making it a Class B misdemeanor. Providing or promoting online gambling services would have been made a Class D felony.
The bill also included clauses that required Internet service providers to take measures to block sites that offer or promote gambling. Law enforcement agencies would have been given he authority to shut Internet services providers down if they were found to be providing access to online gambling.
"Until we can shut down the companies that run these gaming sites, we have to go after the service providers," Denbo said. "But those providers acting in good faith would be exempt from any liability."
After it was introduced, Denbo's bill was sent to the Committee on Public Policy and Ethics and Veterans Affairs. It remained there without any further hearing until March 14, when both houses adjourned for the session.
Denbo, tried to move similar legislation in the previous two legislative sessions, said he proposed the bill as a way to protect Indiana's lottery and casinos from losing money to online competition. He also cited child protection as a major concern.
"People do not understand the real risks involved in Internet gambling," he said. "They just give their money away to some offshore company that could easily take the money and run. . . . I would like to see this bill pass to protect our children, and to build a wall so that those unregulated online gaming companies no longer threaten Hoosiers and our own gaming industry."
The other bill, Senate Bill 0186, received its first reading Jan. 6. The legislation, authored by Sen. David Ford (R) and Sen. John Waterman (R), was referred to the Committee on Public Policy and Ethics and Veterans Affairs on Feb. 4, where it too stayed until the session's adjournment.
The Ford/Waterman bill did not contain any clauses criminalizing online gambling by Indiana citizens, but like the House Bill, it would have made operating an Internet gaming site a Class D felony. There was, however, no language to make the promoting of an interactive gaming site illegal.
The Senate bill would also have given Internet service providers a cause of action against anyone who participated in the transmission of e-mail messages that contained gambling information.
Documents
House Bill 1172
Senate Bill 0186