Public Already Spoken<\/strong><\/h2>\nBut supporters of the mobile sports betting bill argue that it is not gambling expansion because bets are still only being accepted by the state\u2019s two casinos, whose servers are based on casino premises. They believe voters approved sports betting, both mobile and land-based, when they authorized casino gaming at referenda in 2012 and 2016.<\/p>\n
House Republicans introduced an amendment to ask for a judicial opinion on whether mobile wagering could be legalized without a public referendum, but the amendment was defeated.<\/p>\n
“I support this type of gaming. I don’t support moving ahead when there are substantial questions about its legality,” said House minority leader, Republican Rep. Blake Filippi. “I think we should be asking for an advisory opinion from the Rhode Island Supreme Court before we build our budget around it and invest in the technology.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rhode Island\u2019s mobile sports betting bill has cleared both chambers of the state legislature and now awaits sign off by Governor Gina Raimondo. That signature is all but assured — Raimondo\u2019s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 includes $30 million from sports betting, including $3 million from mobile betting. That\u2019s ambitious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":100433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13,61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Rhode Island Legislature Passes Mobile Sports Betting Bill<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n