Titus Asks House Leaders to Attach Gambling Loss Fix to Year-End Bill

A gambler who wins $100,000 and loses $100,000 in the same year can still owe federal tax. That is the practical effect of the 90% gambling loss deduction now in law, and Nevada Democrat Dina Titus wants House leaders to reverse it before the session ends.

In a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both Republicans from Louisiana, Titus asked that the bipartisan FAIR BET language be included in any "must-pass" legislation, according to CDC Gaming, which reported the letter. The change came from a provision added to the Senate-amended version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reduced the deduction for gambling losses from 100% to 90%. CDC Gaming's example is blunt: a gambler reporting $100,000 in winnings and $100,000 in losses would still owe $10,000, where under the earlier policy nothing would be owed.

The bill's status is narrower than the letter's urgency. Titus introduced FAIR BET in July 2025, and the House Ways and Means Committee approved it 38-5 in September. It now waits for House leadership to schedule a floor vote, and the report does not say leadership has done so.

Titus argues that the 90% rule pushes players toward offshore and unregulated markets, reduces domestic tax revenue and discourages industry investment. Those are her claims, not findings in this reporting, and the offshore argument carries no measured data here. The people who feel the rule first are individual bettors whose net position is zero but whose tax bill is not.

Analysis: the real lever is timing. Without a must-pass vehicle before the House adjourns next month, the measure could wait until January, when Titus says she could reintroduce it and when, per CDC Gaming, Democrats are set to take control of Congress. Whether a committee-approved bill reaches the floor before adjournment depends on decisions made by the two Republican leaders the letter addresses.