AN ACT PROHIBITING PREDICTION MARKET PLATFORMS FROM ALLOWING USE BY OR ADVERTISING TO CONSUMERS UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE.

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General Assembly Governor's Bill No. 5038
February Session, 2026 LCO No. 652

Referred to Committee on GENERAL LAW

Introduced by:
Request of the Governor Pursuant
to Joint Rule 9

AN ACT PROHIBITING PREDICTION MARKET PLATFORMS FROM
ALLOWING USE BY OR ADVERTISING TO CONSUMERS UNDER THE
AGE OF TWENTY-ONE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2027) (a) As used in this section, and 1
sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of this act: (1) "Consumer" means an individual 2
who is a resident of the state; (2) "bid -ask format" means a format in 3
which parties submit offers to buy positions on a prediction market 4
platform at a specific price or range of prices and offers to sell positions 5
at a specific price or range of prices, with market prices determined 6
through the matching of these offers; (3) "prediction market platform" 7
means any platform or service that provides consumers with the ability 8
to open speculative positions on the outcomes of future events; and ( 4) 9
"prediction market" means any system that allows consumers to open a 10
speculative position on the outcome of future events, in a bid -ask 11
format, regardless of the mechanisms or structures used for opening 12
speculative positions on future events, but does not include: 13
(A) Sports wagering, as defined in subdivision (34) of section 12 -850 14
of the general statutes and solely regulated pursuant to chapter 229b of 15
the general statutes; 16

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(B) Online casino gaming, as defined in subdivision (26) of section 12-17
850 of the general statutes and solely regulated pursuant to chapter 229b 18
of the general statutes, 19
(C) Internet games, as defined in subdivision (13) of section 12-850 of 20
the general statutes and solely regulated pursuant to chapter 229b of the 21
general statutes, or 22
(D) The purchase or sale of bid -asks based upon the continuous 23
fluctuation of a security price, commodity value, or interest rate that 24
correlates with traditional market prices or broad economic measures. 25
(b) No prediction market platform provider shall allow any consumer 26
under the age of twenty-one years to register or to open any speculative 27
position on a prediction market on such provider's platform. 28
(c) Any prediction market platform provided in the state shall 29
develop and implement a system that: 30
(1) Verifies that a consumer with an account for such platform is 31
twenty-one years of age or older and is physically present in the state 32
when placing a wager before such individual is permitted to open an 33
account and use the platform; and 34
(2) Provides a voluntary self -exclusion process under which a 35
consumer may (A) exclude himself or herself from establishing an 36
account, (B) exclude himself or herself from submitting offers to buy or 37
sell positions, or (C) limit the amount such consumer may spend using 38
such an account. 39
(d) If a prediction market platform provider has inadvertently 40
permitted a consumer under the age of twenty-one to use the provider's 41
platform and such provider discovers the error, the provider shall (1) 42
immediately suspend such consumer's account, (2) close all positions on 43
that account, (3) pay out to the consumer any funds in the account, and 44
(4) prohibit the consumer from further use of the provider's platform 45

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until such consumer has attained the age of twenty-one. 46
Sec. 2. (NEW) ( Effective July 1, 202 7) (a) All advertisements for a 47
prediction market platform provider shall state that consumers shall be 48
twenty-one years of age or older to participate in the type of bid -ask 49
wagering advertised, marketed or promoted. If a direct or targeted 50
advertisement or promotion is sent to a consumer, including, but not 51
limited to, by electronic mail or text message, such advertisement shall 52
include a clear and conspicuous Internet link that allows the recipient to 53
unsubscribe by clicking on one link. 54
(b) No prediction market platform provider shall publish or cause to 55
be published any advertisement that: 56
(1) Is aimed exclusively or primarily at consumers under twenty-one 57
years of age or at college campuses; 58
(2) Directly advertises, targets or promotes prediction market bid-ask 59
wagering to specific consumers, rather than a general audience, who are 60
excluded pursuant to a self -exclusion process as described in 61
subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of section 1 of this act, through methods, 62
including, but not limited to, electronic mail, telephone calls, text 63
messages, direct messaging applications, mail and social media; 64
(3) Contains images, symbols, celebrity or entertainer endorsements 65
or language designed to appeal specifically to those under twenty -one 66
years of age; 67
(4) Contains inaccurate or misleading information that would 68
reasonably be expected to confuse and mislead consumers in order to 69
induce them to engage in prediction market platforms; 70
(5) Is published, aired, displayed or disseminated to a media outlet 71
or on social media, that appeal s primarily to consumers under twenty -72
one years or age; or 73
(6) Is placed before any audience where the majority of the viewers 74

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or participants is presumed to be under twenty-one years of age. 75
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2027) Any prediction market platform 76
provider who violates any provision of section 1 or 2 of this act , or any 77
rule, regulation or order promulgated pursuant to this section and 78
sections 1, 2 and 4 of this act , shall be liable for a civil penalty not to 79
exceed ten thousand dollars assessed by the Attorney General for each 80
violation. If the Attorney G eneral determines that such provider has 81
engaged in a persistent course of conduct in violation of this section, the 82
Attorney General may impose a civil penalty not to exceed fifty 83
thousand dollars for each violation. 84
Sec. 4. (NEW) ( Effective July 1, 202 7) The Department of Consumer 85
Protection shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 of the 86
general statutes to implement the provisions of sections 1 to 3, inclusive, 87
of this act. 88
Sec. 5. (Effective July 1, 2027) To the extent any provision of sections 1 89
to 4, inclusive, of this act are determined by a court of competent 90
jurisdiction to be preempted by conflicting federal law , such provision 91
shall not be in force and the applicable provisions of federal law shall 92
apply. 93
Sec. 6. (Effective July 1, 2026) (a) The Commissioner of the Department 94
of Consumer Protection, in consultation with the office of the Attorney 95
General, the Mohegan Tribe, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, shall 96
conduct a study concerning the effects of prediction market platforms 97
on the residents of this state including, but not limited to, the: 98
(1) Use of prediction market platforms by persons under the age of 99
twenty-one; 100
(2) Advertisement of prediction market platforms to persons under 101
the age of twenty-one; 102
(3) Effects of prediction market platforms on problem gambling in 103

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this state; 104
(4) Most frequently placed speculative positions on prediction 105
market platforms by persons in this state; 106
(5) Effects of prediction markets on revenue collected by the master 107
wagering licensees; and 108
(6) Effects of prediction markets on any payments to the state by the 109
master wagering licensees. 110
(b) Not later than February 1, 2027, the Commissioner of Consumer 111
Protection shall file a report on the study and recommendations, in 112
accordance with the provisions of section 11 -4a of the general statutes, 113
with the Governor, the Office of Policy and Management, and the joint 114
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 115
matters relating to general law. 116
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 6 July 1, 2026 New section

Statement of Purpose:
To implement the Governor's budget recommendations.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]