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Gaming industry opposes bill to raise casino admission fees and gambling taxes
Summary
Rep. Jeff Nye presented HB3533 to increase casino admission fees and gaming taxes, forecasting roughly $470 million in revenue; industry witnesses said the bill would raise the admission fee to $5.50 (indexed to CPI), increase tax rates and could conflict with constitutional provisions on sports betting, and urged the committee to oppose the measure.
Rep. Jeff Nye presented House Bill 3533 to the House Crime and Public Safety Committee as a revenue measure that would raise casino admission fees and increase gaming taxes.
Nye said the legislation would update long-unchanged admission fees and other gaming charges to generate additional revenue for state programs. He described the measure as an effort to address lost revenue and cited a projected total in the hundreds of millions: "This bill just raises taxes on casinos... and it generates a little bit of money for Department of Natural Resources, the historic fund, education, and the gaming commission to the tune of 470,000,000," Nye said.
Industry witnesses urged caution. Mike Winter of the Missouri Gaming Association testified the admission fee would move from $2 to $5.50 and include a CPI adjustment, and that proposed increases to adjusted gross receipts taxes could raise the rate from roughly 21% to 34%, costing the industry hundreds of millions. He said some provisions aimed at remote wagering or sports betting may require constitutional changes and that the overall package could reduce reinvestment in the state.
Chan Seppala of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce said the chamber opposed singling out specific industries for higher taxes and asked legislators to weigh broader economic impacts.
Committee members asked questions about how admission fees are collected and who ultimately bears them; industry witnesses said casinos typically absorb the hourly admission fee rather than charging patrons at the door and warned that overly large increases could shift patrons to neighboring states or reduce reinvestment. The transcript does not show a committee vote or final action on HB3533.
Attributions: direct quotes and paraphrases in this article are taken from committee testimony and map to witnesses who identified themselves on the record.