Ohio, Vermont DFS bills move forward in hopes of regulating games

Two bills concerning the legality and taxation of daily fantasy sports in the states of Ohio and Vermont have moved closer to becoming law.

While DFS sites like DraftKings and FanDuel have operated in both Ohio and Vermont, that’s because the situation has been unclear in both cases. New DFS bills in both states seek to provide clarity to the legal situation, consumer protections and a structure for the states to get some revenue as well.

Ohio law, like many other states, bans games that are determined by the state to predominantly be games of chance. However, there has been no action by the state’s administrative or prosecutorial bodies to even subject the contests on DFS sites to the required test, much less enforce that standard. Thus, DFS sites have operated in the state regardless.

In similar fashion, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office gave an official opinion that DFS contests violate state law last year. While that’s been the state’s official stance, no action against any of the DFS site operators or the state’s thousands of participants in the games has been taken.

It appears that fact will become permanent in Vermont, as S.136 needs only the signature of Governor Phil Scott to become law. It hasn’t been reported yet whether or not Scott intends to give his approval to the bill, but the bill looks similar to those enacted in several other states.

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S. 136 mainly focuses on regulations for the sites. To operate in Vermont, owners of sites may not participate in the games their sites offer. Additionally, professional athletes may not play the games tied to their profession. The bill creates a framework for posing a registration fee and taxation, though it does not state what that amount or exactly how those taxes will be imposed. The bill’s language leaves that up to the state’s agency of administration.

The Ohio bill is much further away from becoming law in the legislative process. It is set to be considered by a state House committee this week, and shows promise with the contingent of bodies involved.

The Ohio bill is more detailed in its current version than the piece of legislation soon to appear on Vermont Governor Scott’s desk. It requires DFS site owners to have a license to operate in the state, which requires an initial fee of $30,000. If the license application is approved, the term would be three years.

The bill would bar site employees and their families along with professional athletes from participating in contests. A similar restriction would be in place for anyone under the age of 18. Contests based on college games would be illegal as well.

If the bill makes it through committee in some form, the full Ohio House would vote on the legislation. From there, the Ohio Senate would either consider the bill as it stands or create its own version. Given the cooperation of the industry and the Ohio attorney general’s office, it’s likely that a version of this bill approved by the House would be taken up by the Senate.

While the proposed scenario is much closer to becoming reality in Vermont than in Ohio, it appears that both states could soon be added to the growing list which regulates DFS within their borders.