Illinois GOP Lawmakers Push For New Betting & Digital Fees
Illinois House and Senate Republicans are pushing to repeal five new taxes and fees added to the state's fiscal year 2027 budget, including a per-wager tax on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and a social media platform fee, arguing the measures could cost the state more in legal fees than they raise in revenue, according to WAND-TV and remarks made at a Statehouse news conference on October 1, 2026.
State Rep. Travis Weaver (R-Pekin) filed four of the five repeal bills, while State Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) filed a fifth targeting a new digital assets tax, with State Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) filing companion legislation in the Senate.
What The New Taxes Cover
The taxes, part of the $56 billion budget Governor JB Pritzker signed in June, apply to digital advertising, social media platforms with more than 100,000 Illinois users (up to $165,000 a month, according to Weaver), cryptocurrency, and a new per-bet tax on "exchange wagers" placed through prediction markets, set at 1.75% for the first five million trades in the state and rising to 3.5% after that threshold.
The prediction-market tax, created by House Bill 5814's target legislation, extends Illinois' existing per-wager sports betting tax model, first applied to traditional sportsbooks in 2025, to platforms like Kalshi that have operated largely outside state betting tax regimes until now.
Republicans Say Legal Challenges Already Under Way
Weaver said Democrats are projecting minimal revenue from the new fees partly because they are uncertain the measures are even legal, while lawsuits against them have already begun, leaving the state's Attorney General to defend the taxes in court at taxpayer expense.
Most of the new taxes are due to take effect January 1, 2027, with the Illinois General Assembly due back in Springfield for its veto session beginning November 17.
Each repeal bill carries more than 20 Republican co-sponsors but no Democratic support so far, meaning the measures face long odds in a legislature Democrats control with veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
Not The First Attempt To Reverse A Betting Tax
This is not the first time Illinois lawmakers have tried to unwind a gambling-related tax. In 2025, Democratic Rep. Daniel Didech filed House Bill 5143 to end the state's per-bet sports betting tax by mid-2026.
However, that bill died in committee in March 2026 without a floor vote. Illinois was the first state to adopt a per-wager sports betting tax in 2025, a flat fee that started at 25 cents per bet for the first 20 million wagers in a year and doubled to 50 cents after that threshold, prompting some sportsbooks to raise minimum bet sizes or pass the fee directly on to customers.
Weaver has said he wants his prediction-market and digital-fee repeal bills debated specifically during the fall veto session, which runs November 17-19 and December 1-3, so the current legislature, rather than one reshaped by the November election, decides their fate.
With Democrats holding veto-proof majorities in both the Illinois House and Senate, and no Democratic co-sponsors yet signed on to any of the five repeal bills, their odds of passage remain long despite the bipartisan tone Republicans have struck in public remarks.
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