{"id":121609,"date":"2019-12-05T16:53:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T00:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=121609"},"modified":"2019-12-06T05:10:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T13:10:22","slug":"michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan House Passes Bill That Would Remove Political Donations Ban for Casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Michigan House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow commercial casino licensees and their employees to make political donations in the state.<\/p>\n

\"Michigan
Brandt Iden\u2019s bill would strengthen the political powers of casinos while removing some of their accountability. (Image: SBR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The practice is prohibited under the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act, which legalized commercial gaming and was approved by voters in a public referendum in 1996.<\/p>\n

The bill would also allow individuals with criminal convictions to be eligible for licenses after a certain time period — ten years for felonies and five years for misdemeanors — and remove the need for some background checks for certain licensees.<\/p>\n

The new legislation is sponsored by Representative Brandt Iden (R-Oshtemo Township) and is part of a wider gambling expansion package<\/a> that would also legalize sports betting, online gaming, and daily fantasy sports, which was approved by the House in October.<\/p>\n

Iden separated this bill from the wider package because repealing the voter-sanctioned ban on campaign donations requires approval by three-quarters of legislature.<\/p>\n

Mob Rule<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Laws related to corporate campaign donations differ from state to state, but most either limit or prohibit the practice to guard against corruption or the perception of corruption.<\/p>\n

In Nevada, where the casino industry and its interests are part of the socio-political fabric, they\u2019re legal. But other significant US casino jurisdictions, like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have sought to limit the industry\u2019s influence — in New Jersey’s case, partly because of its historical connections to organized crime.<\/p>\n

Some suggest this is outdated, since the Mob has long been driven out of US casino operations. But Michigan State Rep. Bill Sowerby believes the decision to increase the casinos\u2019 political influence in his state, while simultaneously opening the door to ex-felons and decreasing background checks, was an odd one.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillionaire and billionaire casino owners will now be allowed to give money to state legislators,\u201d Sowerby said in a statement to The Detroit News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Even worse, casino owners will no longer have to disclose to the public their past felony crime convictions, their financial failures \u2014 including bankruptcies \u2014 or their failures to pay their taxes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMichiganders expect and deserve more transparency and accountability from those who have such incredible responsibility, and this legislation severely diminishes that standard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Corporate Megadonor<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Corporate contributions to federal election campaigns are illegal, although companies are permitted to sponsor political action campaigns (PACs) to provide support for administration and fundraising.<\/p>\n

After 2010\u2019s US Supreme Court\u2019s Citizens United decision, the cap on donations to PACs was removed, leading to the rise of the super PAC.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s wealthiest casino owner, Sheldon Adelson, has contributed<\/a> hundred of millions of dollars to the Republican Party via the super PACs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Michigan House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow commercial casino licensees and their employees to make political donations in the state. The practice is prohibited under the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act, which legalized commercial gaming and was approved by voters in a public referendum in 1996. The bill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":121610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMichigan House Passes Bill to Ditch Casino Political Donations Ban<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan casino bill that would repeal law that prevents casinos and their employees from giving money to political campaigns passes House.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan House Passes Bill to Ditch Casino Political Donations Ban\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michigan casino bill that would repeal law that prevents casinos and their employees from giving money to political campaigns passes House.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-06T00:53:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-06T13:10:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"856\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/\",\"name\":\"Michigan House Passes Bill to Ditch Casino Political Donations Ban\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-06T00:53:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-06T13:10:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Michigan casino bill that would repeal law that prevents casinos and their employees from giving money to political campaigns passes House.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":856,\"caption\":\"Brandt Iden\u2019s bill would strengthen the political powers of casinos,while removing some of their accountability. (Image: SBR)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legislation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legislation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Michigan House Passes Bill That Would Remove Political Donations Ban for Casinos\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michigan House Passes Bill to Ditch Casino Political Donations Ban","description":"Michigan casino bill that would repeal law that prevents casinos and their employees from giving money to political campaigns passes House.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michigan House Passes Bill to Ditch Casino Political Donations Ban","og_description":"Michigan casino bill that would repeal law that prevents casinos and their employees from giving money to political campaigns passes House.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-12-06T00:53:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-12-06T13:10:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":856,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/","name":"Michigan House Passes Bill to Ditch Casino Political Donations Ban","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-06T00:53:31+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-06T13:10:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Michigan casino bill that would repeal law that prevents casinos and their employees from giving money to political campaigns passes House.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iden.jpg","width":1200,"height":856,"caption":"Brandt Iden\u2019s bill would strengthen the political powers of casinos,while removing some of their accountability. (Image: SBR)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-house-passes-bill-to-ditch-casino-political-donations-ban\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legislation","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legislation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Michigan House Passes Bill That Would Remove Political Donations Ban for Casinos"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121609"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}