Internet slot games could be a sacrificial lamb in the battle for Michigan online gambling… slaughtered for the “greater good” of the state’s online gambling bill. Speaking to the Online Poker Report website, State Representative Brandt Iden said that Governor Gretchen Whitmer refuses to compromise when it comes to Internet gambling and eliminating online slots from the package.

“I’d love to have a direct conversation with her about this,” Iden said. “She refuses to engage with me directly. I’ve been talking to her staff. I welcome the opportunity, for the record, to sit down with the governor any time and talk about this issue.”

At a Ways and Means Committee hearing in May, representatives of the administration made it clear that Whitmer would veto the Michigan online gambling bill as it stood. The governor is concerned that moderate taxes and fees on internet gambling would cannibalize revenue from both brick-and-mortar casinos and the state lottery.

“When you propose something like a 40% tax rate, it just clearly shows that you have no knowledge of what’s happening in the industry,” Iden said. He refutes the concerns over cannibalization, but he’s also prepared for the possibility that the governor won’t budge.

He said he would be willing to further raise the taxes into double digits and dedicate all iGaming revenue to education if that creates enough compromise. It’s not clear if the governor will get on board with slots, however, which represent the majority of online gambling revenue in established markets like New Jersey.

Read more about the battle for Michigan online gambling at Online Poker Report