HARTFORD, CT — The House has passed a bill that would restrict how online gambling accounts can be funded and how gaming companies market their services in Connecticut.
The legislation, House Bill 5269, An Act Concerning Gaming Advertisements and Permissible Payment Mechanisms for Online Gaming Accounts prohibits the use of credit cards to fund online gambling accounts and bars inducement-based advertising that offers financial incentives to encourage gambling. It also requires that all account holders give permission before charges are made to jointly held credit or debit cards.
The House passed the bill 100-46 after a lengthy debate, with lawmakers raising concerns about gambling addiction and the role of Connecticut’s tribal partners in the state’s gaming landscape. Passage sent the bill to the Senate, but with just hours to go in the current legislative session, the bill’s fate was unclear.
“This is a common-sense approach to some of the problems that we’re seeing throughout society, especially amongst young men and gambling,” said State Rep. David Rutigliano, R-Trumbull. “The fact that you could fund a gambling account with a joint credit card, and your spouse may not know that you’re using that card for that purpose, is outrageous.”
Lawmakers supporting the bill said credit card-funded gambling can be predatory, citing high interest rates and a lack of transparency in incentive-based ads.
“Who is responding to an ad where you only bet five bucks, you get 200 bucks? Somebody who can’t really afford to bet,” Rutigliano said. “Many of those ads have you do thousands of dollars worth of bets in a short period of time to get your $200.”
Rep. Ronald Lemar, D-New Haven, pointed to statistics about young people and gambling, including a recent study from The University of Connecticut that found up to 40% of college students self-identified as having a gambling problem.
“We did it for cigarettes. We took it out of magazines, we took it out of everything. And I think we should do that for gambling too,” Rutigliano said. “Let the adults do what they want, and let’s protect the kids.”
Lemar, who helped lead the bill, said the legislation included “three solid, thoughtful approaches” that aim to stem the rise of problem gambling: banning credit card use for funding accounts, eliminating financial inducement ads, and prohibiting such advertising from being shown to audiences under 18 years old.
“There’s great evidence that if you just make that one small switch of banning credit cards, you would help a lot of folks who find themselves in increasing levels of debt,” Lamar said.
Opponents expressed concern about the impact on tribal sovereignty and questioned whether the bill bypassed established agreements.
Legislators also expressed concern that the legislation was being rushed without adequate tribal consultation.
“It just seems like we’re taking something away from them that was negotiated,” state Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London said, referring to the state’s compact with the tribes. “At that time, negotiations were a big thing.”
Supporters countered that the legislation applies not to activities on tribal land but to third-party gaming operators working with the tribes.
“Neither of our tribal nation partners actually, at this point in time, have authorized their partners to accept credit cards,” Lemar said. “We want to ensure… that we both prohibit the lottery from engaging in this activity, but send the message that we think there should be a governing structure.”
Despite the concerns, Lemar emphasized the urgency of addressing problem gambling.
“Waiting another year will put us another year where the good statistics … continue to escalate,” Lemar said. “We do believe we need to speak out, and we need to start having a broader conversation on these issues.”
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