Only a month into 2016, there has been plenty of movement on the legislative front in the United States. Online poker could soon be regulated in Pennsylvania, while states like Washington and New York are seriously considering the same. Here’s a recap of the major developments in January.

iGaming By Mid-2016 in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania could be the first domino to fall. Online poker regulation appeared close to being included as part of a budget package in December, but that didn’t come to fruition. Revenue gained from taxing operators and assessing them licensing fees will be used to offset a pension shortfall, making the issue important given its earmark.

Assemblyman John Payne, one of the main proponents of regulating iGaming in Pennsylvania, explained that the state’s 12 casinos making more money means more cash in Pennsylvania’s coffers. “The more the casinos make, the more we make,” he said. “We should encourage them to make more.”

Several Pennsylvania casinos have already teamed up with online operators in advance of legislation, including Parx partnering with GameAccount and bwin.party partnering with an unnamed provider. “We have to pass gaming sometime between now and June when the budget is due,” Payne said. “A lot of these casinos are working on partners already in order to be up and running as soon as possible.” Payne’s bill is HB 649.

“There is an opportunity for us to press the state legislature to include online gaming in their budget,” John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, the main lobbying voice for poker players nationwide, said of the Pennsylvania bill.

New York Introduces Online Poker Bill… Again

In the Empire State, Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow once again introduced a bill that would legalize online poker. This is the third straight year that an iGaming bill has been introduced in New York.

This time around, according to Online Poker Report, the bill, A 9049, defines poker as a game of skill and doles out 10 licenses. “There is no longer a ‘bad actor’ provision that would prevent operators who were taking US customers after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act,” the site explained, an important distinction from the 2014 bill.

S 5302B is the sister bill to A 9049 in the New York State Senate and was scheduled to be discussed in the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee on February 2. However, that day, the bill was moved to the Senate Finance Committee where it awaits action.

New York is in a unique position given that one neighboring state (New Jersey) already licenses and regulates online gaming, and another (Pennsylvania) appears to be close to doing so as well. That added pressure, especially if Pennsylvania succeeds in passing a bill, could be enough to push New York to act.

Fantasy Sports Taking Precedence in California

In California, the largest state in the US by population, fantasy sports took several steps forward, while online poker was seemingly left behind. In the first week of the new year, a hearing that was supposed to cover both online poker and fantasy sports ended up just being about the latter. A fantasy sports bill then passed out of the California Assembly by a 62 to 1 vote.

“We’re seeing Attorneys General across the country force the issue,” California Assemblyman Mike Gatto said. “That’s why fantasy sports has risen to prominence here. I don’t see how there can be any type of comprehensive solution about either poker or fantasy sports without involving the other one, though.”

Industry groups like the PPA have also called for poker to be included with any fantasy sports legislation. “The swift passage of a [daily fantasy sports]regulatory bill shows that California lawmakers do in fact care about protecting consumers who play games online,” the PPA commented. “Therefore, we urge the legislature to immediately move legislation that also protects Californians who want to play online poker through appropriate authorization and regulation.”

The PPA added that California was “closer than ever to passing an online poker bill.”

Internet Poker Bill Introduced in Washington State

In 2006 Washington State made playing online poker a Class C felony, making it among the strictest states in the country. However, in January, HB 1114, a bill that authorizes and regulates online poker, was re-introduced. State Representatives Vincent Buys and Sherry Appleton are its sponsors.

HB 1114 was originally introduced last year. Despite its resurrection, it doesn’t appear to be headed anywhere, according to Online Poker Report. “If the bill isn’t considered in committee during this session, it will die at the end of the session,” OPR explained. “A source in the state House indicated… that there are no current plans for the bill to move forward.”

The deadline for a bill to be passed out of committee is February 5.

A group called iPokerWA, also known as the Washington Internet Poker Initiative, has been vocal in the Evergreen State. It posted on its website that the time was right to tell lawmakers to support the iPoker bill. “The value of online poker for the growth of the game cannot be denied, and we need to make sure we are talking about it everywhere,” the group said. “The question is do we have the will?”

According to Curtis Woodard, who heads up iPokerWA, PokerStars has retained a lobbyist in Washington State, but neither supported HB 1114 nor introduced one of its own. “Without support, we have lost by default,” he said.

iPoker Shunned in Nebraska

In mid-January, Omaha.com published an article saying that a bill defining poker as a game of skill in Nebraska earned a “cool reception,” and not the good kind of cool. The measure is Legislative Bill 619 and while it might seem logical to most people that poker is a game of skill, the state’s Attorney General disagreed, saying it’s primarily a game of chance.

State Senator Tyson Larson has been spearheading the effort. “Here’s an opportunity, an outside-the-box opportunity, to show… that we take these things seriously, help our local communities in their fundraising efforts, give money back to the local counties and cities into the property tax credit relief fund,” Larson said of what the funds generated from poker could be used for.

The bill appears dead for the immediate future. According to CDC Gaming Reports, “The Legislature could continue the bill’s debate this year, but only if a senator or committee designates it priority. Larson says he has not yet decided whether he’ll do that.”

There appears to be a possibility that community games like Hold’em are separated from games like Five-Card Draw when crafting a bill.