sports betting legislation Archives - Page 2 of 2

Sports Betting on Agenda This Week In Indiana, Illinois and Washington, D.C.

Posted on 15 October 2018 | by Jill Dorson

Indiana, Illinois and the District of Columbia will have hearings on sports betting this week. Both the Indiana and Illinois hearings are informational, ahead of the midterm elections and winter sessions, while the D.C. Council hearing could be the first step in legalizing sports betting before the end of the year.

In Indiana, the Interim Study Committee on Public Policy, chaired by Representative Ben Smaltz (R-District 52) will hear public testimony and have a committee discussion about legal sports betting before issuing a recommendation on the topic on Friday beginning at 12 p.m. ET. The Indiana General Assembly adjourned in March without legalizing sports betting.

Sports betting was definitely a hot topic among some members of the assembly, and in January, Representative Alan Morrison (R-District 42) introduced HB 1325, a sports wagering bill that marked the first appearance of a bill containing several pro leagues’ “Model Legislation” language and a 1 percent “integrity fee” that they’ve been after. The bill died in committee and no additional legislation was introduced before the session closed. On the Senate side, Jon Ford (R-District 38) also introduced legislation, but it, too, died in committee.

New Jersey Adds Additional 1.25% Tax on Sports Betting Revenue

Posted on 10 October 2018 | by Jill Dorson

Less than five months after New Jersey won the Supreme Court battle that allowed its casinos to offer sports betting, taxes are going up. According to the Press of Atlantic City, Governor Phil Murphy signed off on a 1.25 percent sports betting tax increase last week to benefit the state’s ailing Casino Reinvestment Development Agency. That brings the tax on net sports betting revenue to 9.75 percent at brick-and-mortar sports books and 13 percent on mobile and online sports betting.

For comparison, Nevada taxes its sports betting revenue at 6.75 percent, West Virginia at 10 percent and Mississippi at 12 percent. Sportsbooks haven’t opened in Pennsylvania yet, but the rate there will be 36 percent, while Delaware and Rhode Island (which expects to open for sports betting next month) effectively pay more a more than 50 percent tax rate under partnership programs with their state governments.

The CRDA will earmark the funds for “marketing and promotion.” According to the Press of Atlantic City, the additional tax from casino sportsbooks will be used to market Atlantic City specifically while the additional tax revenue generated from Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands Racetrack will be funneled directly to the towns in which the tracks are located.

Ohio Lawmakers Hold Meetings in Preparation of Drafting Sports Betting Bill

Posted on 10 October 2018 | by Jill Dorson

Ohio lawmakers on Tuesday hosted two meetings as the first step to crafting passable sports betting legislation. The meetings, hosted by senators John Eklund and Sean O’Brien (D-District 32), left Eklund feeling like lawmakers are on the right path.

“We’re taking the information we gathered at these meetings and the sponsors will get together and see if we can put some meat on the bones,” he said. “We’ll draft a bill and then entertain comments and suggestions, and I’d hope we might have a substantive bill ready to go. If not, we might need some more meetings.”

Eklund is aiming to have an outline done in a couple of weeks and, with any luck, a bill drafted shortly after that. Both the Ohio Senate and House have up to six sessions on the calendar in November and up to seven each in December. The goal would be to pass legislation before the end of 2018, otherwise, a new bill would need to be introduced at the start of the 2019 session.

Nevada Representative Dina Titus to Congress: No Need to Reinvent Wheel on Sports Betting

Posted on 26 September 2018 | by Brett Smiley

The post Nevada Representative Dina Titus to Congress: No Need to Reinvent Wheel on Sports Betting appeared first on SportsHandle.

Nevada Representative Dina Titus (NV-1) has been on record many times reiterating her distaste for a federal framework for sports betting. After all, the state of Nevada has had legal casino-style gaming, including sports betting, since 1949. With nearly 70 years of experience under its belt, Nevada doesn’t need any (or want) any input from, well, novices. As the old saying goes, if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“I don’t think it’s a very good idea, it’s reinventing the wheel,” Titus told Sports Handle on Tuesday. “Nevada has been doing this for a long time and we do it very well. You’re going to have to start from whole cloth if you start from the federal level. The more states that move into this, and there are five already, the less appetite there would be for a federal framework.”

But with just about a month remaining in the current Congressional session, mid-term elections looming in November, and much bigger fish to fry — the Kavanaugh hearings, balancing the budget, settling the latest version of the farm bill — Congress is again dipping its toes into the world of sports betting.

Washington, D.C. Councilman Introduces Sports Betting Bill

Posted on 19 September 2018 | by Jill Dorson

The post Washington, D.C. Councilman Introduces Sports Betting Bill appeared first on SportsHandle.

Against a backdrop of U.S. Congressmen proposing the idea of a federal framework for sports betting, a District of Columbia city council member has introduced a bill that would allow sports betting in the nation’s capitol. According to the Washington Post, Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) introduced legislation that he says he is co-authoring with Democratic mayor Muriel E. Bowser and Democratic city councilman Phil Mendelson.

The bill has been referred to the Finance and Revenue Committee, of which Evans is the chairman. (Read the bill here.) The District is in a unique situation in that is it essentially a city-state and the 13-member City Council makes law in D.C. Given the relatively small number of lawmakers, the process is more nimble than in a larger state governments. However, laws passed by the Council are subject to Congressional approval.

Should the District of Columbia legalize sports betting, it would be the first in the immediate region to do so. Maryland is very much a gaming state but did not pass sports betting legislation in 2018 that would have put the matter of legalization to voter referendum. The closest states with legal sports betting are Delaware — the first in the nation to roll out sports betting post-PASPA — and West Virginia, which took its first sports bet in late August.