As the sports betting industry explodes in popularity, Illinois is set to slow its momentum.
As part of a $55.2 billion state budget package full of tax hikes, Illinois lawmakers passed a new tax on online sports wagering. Under the guise of filling a roughly $1 billion shortfall, the move imposes a new per-wager tax of 25 cents on the first 20 million online sports bets each fiscal year, doubling to 50 cents per bet after.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, signaled he would sign the budget but made it all about national politics. "Even in the face of [President Donald] Trump and Congressional Republicans stalling the national economy," Pritzker remarked in a press release, "our state budget delivers for working families without raising their taxes while protecting the progress we are making for our long-term fiscal health."
