The Assembly said the legislation, which will now move forward to state Governor Daniel McKee for final sign-off, represents an economic development investment of more than $250m (£176m/€205m) for the state and will preserve Rhode Island’s third-largest source of revenue.
The core component of the legislation is that IGT and Bally’s will establish a joint venture that will operate as a licensed video lottery terminal (VLT) provider in the state and supply all gaming machines to the state lottery.
IGT will have a 60% controlling stake in the venture, with Bally’s owning the remaining 40%.
A minimum annual replacement cycle of VLTs will be set at 6%, with flexibility to replace up to 8% in any year, while at least 5% of VLTs will be premium machines.