Several states across the country have been busy this week, as bills related to gambling have been filed, marking a potential desire for stronger regulations or new introductions in the industry.

Representatives across Virginia, Florida, New Jersey, Indiana, New York, Nebraska, Mississippi, and Missouri have made the filings.

Which US states have filed gambling bills in 2026?

Virginia

One of the most significant, if it were to be brought in, is the bill in Virginia, the House Bill 161, which would see internet gaming in the Commonwealth authorized and regulated by the Virginia Lottery Board.

From the US Poker Community Discord, A bill was proposed in the Virginia legislature to legalize online poker, join the MSIGA and ban sweepstakes gaming https://t.co/hdPoa90nEl

— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) January 7, 2026

The summary reads: “The bill requires a casino gaming operator that intends to conduct internet gaming to submit a separate notice of intent to the Director of the Virginia Lottery for each internet gaming platform that it intends to offer, up to three, accompanied by a $2 million platform fee that is to be deposited into the Internet Gaming Platform Fee Holding Fund for the purpose of funding start-up costs and other costs associated with the implementation and creation of a gaming commission.”

New Jersey

Moving away from Virginia, the Assembly Bill 6081 has been reported and referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week in New Jersey, but it was originally introduced in November of last year. This would allow courier services to sell instant lottery game tickets electronically and would establish a self-exclusion list for State Lottery games.

Florida

Over in Florida, Bill 1164 includes tweaks to the gambling codes, with a number of changes included that were proposed previously but were not passed. Within this b...