Illinois State Rep. Gonzalez Resubmits Online Casino Gaming Bill
Illinois will once again consider regulating online casinos after State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. submitted the Internet Gaming Act for the 2026 legislative session.
House Bill 4797 (HB 4797) is a repeat of a bill submitted in 2025. The original, like its predecessors in 2024 and 2023, failed to get past committee sessions and this year’s proposal will likely face the same challenges.
Illinois introduced the Riverboat Gambling Act in 1990 as the Prairie State became the second state to allow riverboat gambling.
Changes to regulations have seen gambling move away from riverboats and Illinois now has 17 retail casinos.
In 2009, the Video Gaming Act was passed, allowing Video Gaming Terminals (VGT) to be hosted in truck stops, shops and other venues.
Today, there are approximately 50,000 machines in nearly 9,000 venues and the VGT industry generates approximately $3bn in annual revenue, making it the single largest gaming industry in the state.
Retail casinos and VGT operators have historically contested the possibility of regulating online casinos. They fear that doing so would chip away at their revenue.
House Bill 4797
HB 4797 attempts to mitigate potential loss for physical casinos.
Each of the state’s existing casinos would be able to apply for licenses for up to three skins each.
Each license would incur an initial fee of $250,000, with renewals costing $100,000.
Thereafter, companies would be charged 25% of adjusted gross gaming revenue.
While the industry would be one of the biggest industries in the country, it faces a lot of challenges before it is passed as law.
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Challenges To Regulation
The biggest challenge faced by previous attempts has been time. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, bills have failed to make it past the committee stage, with time running out before any formal decision was made.
The bill has faced stiff opposition from retail casinos and the VGT industry. Casinos claim that iGaming would cannibalize their industry, costing them revenue and jobs.
To counteract this, the bill prevents online casinos from being able to acquire license renewals if they have laid off 25% or more of their workforce since the last renewal.
Illinois has a substantial retail casino industry and, along with New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, it has one of the biggest sports betting markets. If it were to legalize online casinos, the Keystone State would have a sizeable market.
Pennsylvania generates around $1bn a year in tax revenue.
Not only has Illinois proven that its people enjoy gambling and betting, but it has a similar population to Pennsylvania, so it is likely missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue.
Previous attempts by Gonzalez Jr. have seen accompanying Senate bills being tabled, which means we can expect something similar this year.
This year’s bill will now be debated before making its way through various committees.
Last year, it went through the House Rules Committee, but the House Gaming Committee failed to even vote on the bill before the session ended.
Gonzalez Jr. and iGaming proponents in the state will hope the bill makes it further this time around.
