{"id":208576,"date":"2022-04-08T07:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T14:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=208576"},"modified":"2022-04-08T13:35:17","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T20:35:17","slug":"kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Senate to Take Temperature on Sports Betting Bill Next Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRANKFORT, Ky. \u2013 The Kentucky General Assembly\u2019s 2022 session wraps up in one week. Legislators are currently on recess as Gov. Andy Beshear considers signing or vetoing several bills, But there still remains a few pieces of legislation that could receive votes when lawmakers return next Wednesday. One of those items is legalizing sports betting.<\/p>\n

\"Kentucky<\/a>
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce posted an e-billboard ad urging support in the General Assembly for House Bill 606, which would legalize sports betting in the state. The state’s legislature concludes its 2022 session next week. (Image: Casino.org)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senate Republican leaders met in the state capital on Thursday to discuss how the final two days will play out. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, told reporters before the meeting that GOP lawmakers want to end the 60-day session on a \u201cstrong note.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

However, when asked about the chances of House Bill 606<\/a>, which would legalize sports betting and online poker and regulate daily fantasy sports, Stivers cast a skeptical tone. He dismissed sports betting as \u201cnot that big of a fiscal issue,\u201d noting that it would not generate a large sum of tax dollars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIf you think about $1, this wouldn\u2019t even be a penny in receipts for what it may generate,\u201d Stivers said.<\/p>\n

Proponents estimate sports betting would generate more than $20 million in revenue for the state. That would come from a 9.75% tax on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from retail sportsbooks and a 14.25% levy on AGR from online wagering applications.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s budget forecasts General Fund revenues of $13.4 billion for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which starts in July.<\/p>\n

Kentucky Sports Betting is ‘An Appetizer’<\/h2>\n

While Stivers professed ambivalence about the sports betting bill, that differs somewhat from his previous statements on it.<\/p>\n

After the House passed the bill by a 58-30 vote on March 18, Stivers told Spectrum News<\/em><\/a> that the bill created \u201cno energy\u201d for him. He also cast doubts many Senate Republican colleagues would vote for it.<\/p>\n

\n

On Thursday, he called it a \u201csmall entertainment issue\u201d compared to what attracts people to the state, saying sports betting would be \u201can appetizer or dessert\u201d compared to what the bourbon industry, horse racing, or adventure tourism generate for the state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSo that’s why I don’t think it has a lot of energy over on the Senate side, but there are people who are very supportive of it,\u201d Stivers told reporters.<\/p>\n

One of those supporters is Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.<\/p>\n

Before the legislature adjourned on March 30, the Senate gave HB 606 two readings<\/a> on the floor. That set up the bill for a possible vote next Wednesday or Thursday. But besides a third reading on the Senate floor, the bill must first pass out of the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee.<\/p>\n

Suburban Viewpoint<\/h2>\n

Thayer told reporters Thursday he still considers HB 606 a long shot to pass next week. But proponents are working on getting support from senators.<\/p>\n

Republicans hold 30 of the Senate\u2019s 38 seats. Thayer wouldn\u2019t say if it needed 15 or 16 GOP “Yes” votes to get to the floor. However, he did say the leadership will \u201ctake a temperature read\u201d when everyone returns to Frankfort next week.<\/p>\n

Stivers, who represents a rural southeastern Kentucky district, said the bill doesn\u2019t do much for him.\u00a0 But Thayer, whose district stretches from Lexington to northern Kentucky\u2019s Cincinnati suburbs, said it dominates conversations he has with constituents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the only thing that people want to know about right now,\u201d\u00a0Thayer said. \u201cThis has been a great session. Probably, the second-best session I’ve ever been a part of, next to 2017, in terms of moving the state forward with conservative policies, but all I get asked about is sports betting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Getting First Look at Bill<\/h2>\n

HB 606 sponsor, state Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, told Casino.org<\/em> that he took Stivers’ comments as a positive sign, even if the Senate president doesn’t exactly support the bill himself.<\/p>\n

In the week since the veto period began, Koenig said he\u2019d had some productive conversations with senators. It’s similar to how he won support<\/a> for the bill in the House last month.<\/p>\n

House members have had this bill for four years,\u201d<\/strong> Koenig said. \u201cThe Senate has had it for less than four weeks.\u00a0 So, they are learning and focusing on it now.\u00a0 Several are open to the idea, and I look forward to continuing to talk to them.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just as in the House, Thayer said some senators have deeply held religious beliefs that will keep them from voting for any bill that expands gaming.<\/p>\n

He said sports betting proponents need to respect those beliefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s important for the sports betting advocates not to be insulting of that,\u201d Thayer said. \u201cI disagree with it, but I respect that opinion. And, frankly, there are people out there who have megaphones, who are for sports betting, who have been insulting towards those who disagree with us on this. That’s not helpful, and it’s frankly why we haven’t been able to make more progress on getting it passed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FRANKFORT, Ky. \u2013 The Kentucky General Assembly\u2019s 2022 session wraps up in one week. Legislators are currently on recess as Gov. Andy Beshear considers signing or vetoing several bills, But there still remains a few pieces of legislation that could receive votes when lawmakers return next Wednesday. One of those items is legalizing sports betting. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":208577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKentucky Senate to Take Temperature on Sports Betting Bill Next Week<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The fKentucky General Assembly 2022 session wraps up next week and sports betting backers want a vote on HB 606 in the Senate before it ends.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kentucky Senate to Take Temperature on Sports Betting Bill Next Week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The fKentucky General Assembly 2022 session wraps up next week and sports betting backers want a vote on HB 606 in the Senate before it ends.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-08T14:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-08T20:35:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/KY_Chamber_606_billboard.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/\",\"name\":\"Kentucky Senate to Take Temperature on Sports Betting Bill Next Week\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/KY_Chamber_606_billboard.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-08T14:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-08T20:35:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"The fKentucky General Assembly 2022 session wraps up next week and sports betting backers want a vote on HB 606 in the Senate before it ends.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-senate-to-take-temperature-on-sports-betting-bill-next-week\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/KY_Chamber_606_billboard.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/KY_Chamber_606_billboard.jpg\",\"width\":1525,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce posted an e-billboard ad urging support in the general Assembly for House Bill 606, which would legalize sports betting in the state. 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