Panel backs bill to target illegal online gambling and payment processors

The House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday reported House Bill 883 as amended, a measure sponsors say would modernize Louisiana’s gambling-by-computer law to focus enforcement on illegal online operators and the payment networks that enable them.

Representative Schlegel told the committee the bill is "a targeted enforcement measure aimed at illegal online gambling in Louisiana," saying it updates statutes to address dual-currency games that function like gambling, strengthens penalties for illegal operators and gives the attorney general clearer tools to pursue those who knowingly facilitate unlawful activity.

Mark Stewart of the Cordish Companies, representing casino interests, urged support and described strategies used in other states, saying "This bill seizes on those same core strategies and implements them within Louisiana's own enforcement framework." He listed remedies such as website seizures, civil injunctions, asset forfeiture and blocking certain financial transactions by payment processors.

The committee adopted amendment set 3,278, which replaces the term "financial transaction provider" with "merchant payment processor," defines the term, and explicitly excludes federally insured financial institutions from the platform-provider definition so that RS 1,490.3 does not apply to them. The sponsor said the changes aim to target bad actors—merchant processors that collude with illegal operators—while protecting regulated banks and credit-card networks.

A supporter who identified himself for the record raised a narrow concern about whether in-game purchases of virtual "coins" in non-monetary games would be swept up by the bill; he said he did not believe the bill would prevent ordinary players from buying such coins. After discussion the committee, with no objections, reported HB 883 as amended.

The measure now moves from committee for consideration by the full House.