According to eGaming Review, a bill from Representative John Payne (pictured) that would regulate online gambling in Pennsylvania is dead for the 2015 calendar year. Many in the industry had thought the measure would be voted on over the weekend, but that never came to fruition.

The same news site explained, “Payne said he had withdrawn his bill from the legislature, but would reintroduce it for consideration in the spring. Payne did not give a reason for putting his bill on ice, but the state’s ongoing budget impasse may have played a part in his decision.”

Payne’s bill, HB 649, was approved by the Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee in November by an 18-8 margin and was heading to the full House floor to be voted on. HB 649 would have allowed the state’s 12 brick-and-mortar casinos to partner with an online gaming operator to offer online poker and online casino games to those inside Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania would have become the fourth US state to regulate online gambling, joining New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. Instead, we’ll need to wait until 2016 for the state to revisit the issue.

Regulating iGaming could have meant big bucks for Pennsylvania. According to eGaming Review, “Earlier reports have estimated that online gaming could generate around $120 million in its first year for state coffers, increasing to $300 million once the market has matured.” CalvinAyre added, “When state lawmakers added the online gambling bill to the state’s 2016 budget efforts, the poker community anticipated that it was moving forward.”

A vote was originally scheduled for December 8 before being delayed until later in the week, then last weekend, then being shelved until 2016.

Despite no bill being passed, several online gambling companies have already teamed up with land-based casinos in Pennsylvania. 888partnered with Mount Airy in April, around the same time that bwin.party linked up with a yet-to-be-named establishment. At the time, Parx denied it had partnered with bwin.party.

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Image courtesy PennLive