{"id":264336,"date":"2023-03-15T08:38:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T13:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=264336"},"modified":"2023-03-15T21:41:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T02:41:12","slug":"breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATED: Kentucky Sports Betting Bill Clears Senate Committee for First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The push to legalize sports betting in Kentucky took a major step forward Wednesday morning. That’s when a bill to make the Bluegrass State the 37th in the country to accept live and online sports wagers easily passed through a state Senate committee.<\/p>\n

\"Kentucky<\/a>
Republican Kentucky State Rep. Michael Meredith (back) testifies with state Rep. Matt Koch (R) before the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee Wednesday in support of House Bill 551. Meredith is the lead sponsor of the bill to legalize sports betting across the state. (Image: Casino.org<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee\u2019s 9-1 vote on House Bill 551<\/a> now means the measure is a Senate floor vote away from likely becoming law. It\u2019s widely expected that Gov. Andy Beshear (D) would sign the bill into law, especially since it was a major part of his campaign platform four years ago.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s hearing was the first time a Senate committee considered a sports betting bill. A bill passed in the House last year failed to get a hearing before the session ended.<\/p>\n

Challenges to Passage Remain<\/h2>\n

While the lopsided committee vote even exceeded supporters\u2019 expectations, a couple of significant hurdles still remain before Kentuckians no longer have to cross into one of the six neighboring states to wager legally.<\/p>\n

First, the measure will need 23 “Yes” votes in the 37-member Senate to pass. That\u2019s because of General Assembly rules that require any bill that generates revenue or allocates money to receive a three-fifths majority in odd-year sessions. The legislature passes two-year budgets in every even-year session.<\/p>\n

Second, time is running out for the bill to be approved. Including Wednesday, there are four legislative days left in the session. What will help, possibly, is a veto recess period that starts on Friday. That will give bill sponsor state Rep. Michael Meredith (R-Oakland) and other supporters nearly two weeks to gain the support they need to pass it when lawmakers return on March 29-30 to conclude the 30-day session.<\/p>\n

\n

As he did after the House passed HB 551 by a nearly 2-to-1 margin<\/a> on Monday, Meredith told reporters after the committee meeting that they\u2019re still a couple of votes shy of the number needed to pass the bill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If lawmakers approve the sports betting bill<\/a>, Kentucky’s nine horse racing tracks would be able to offer brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at their locations. They could also partner with up to three mobile operators each.<\/p>\n

From ‘Darkness’ Into ‘Light’<\/h2>\n

Meredith laid out the basics of the bill before the panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it does is it creates a regulated marketplace for sports wagering,\u201d <\/strong>he said. \u201cIt takes this activity out of the darkness, out of the shadows, and into the light.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tracks would pay $500,000 to receive a license and $50,000 annually to renew it. Operators would pay $50,000 for their licenses and $10,000 annually to renew.<\/p>\n

The state would tax retail sports betting revenues at 9.75% and online revenues at 14.25%. Most of the money would be applied toward the state\u2019s public pension plans, but 2.5% of the tax revenue would go to a problem gambling education and prevention fund \u2013 a first of its kind for Kentucky. Tax and license money would also cover the KHRC\u2019s oversight of sports betting.<\/p>\n

The only deductions allowed would be related to the .25% federal excise tax placed on each wager. In addition, the bill would make it a Class C felony if anyone tried to manipulate the outcome of an event.<\/p>\n

The primary opponent of Kentucky\u2019s sports betting bills has been The Family Foundation. Its leader, along with other religious leaders and anti-gaming stalwarts, spoke out against HB 551 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Family Foundation Executive Director David Walls said legalizing sports betting would serve as an \u201cexpansion of predatory gambling\u201d and a sudden step back after lawmakers moved to ban so-called gray games or skill machines<\/a> in the state.<\/p>\n

While working to keep convenience stores from becoming \u201cmini-casinos,\u201d allowing online sports betting would create millions of digital casinos in the hands of residents. He also called on lawmakers to protect children.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake, despite any attempts to protect children from this highly addictive form of gambling,\u201d <\/strong>Walls said. \u201cCommercialized sports betting harms children and radically changes the way that children view sports.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘My Constituents Want This’<\/h2>\n

Debate and discussion during the L&O committee meeting was brief. Some, like state Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, felt the state has left \u201cmoney on the table for far too long.\u201d Others, like state Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, voted to approve so discussion could continue on what he called \u201ca tough\u201d bill for him.<\/p>\n

Many, though, felt legalizing sports betting is appropriate since six of Kentucky\u2019s seven neighbors already allow it, and as data from GeoComply shows<\/a>, thousands of Kentuckians are crossing state lines to place wagers in those states.<\/p>\n

We can’t stop people from doing things that are bad for them,\u201d <\/strong>Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said in explaining his vote. \u201cThere are a lot of behaviors out there that done in excess are bad for people, but my constituents want this. The people of Kentucky want this. It\u2019s time that we give them the choice for free will \u2013 God-given free will \u2013 to engage in legal sports betting.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The only \u201cNo\u201d vote in the committee was from Chairman John Schickel, R-Union. Schickel did not explain his vote. He was also the chairman of the committee last year and refused to give House Bill 606 \u2013 last year\u2019s sports betting bill \u2013 a hearing in the session\u2019s final days. The bill was moved to another committee but did not get a hearing before the session ended.<\/p>\n

Another committee member would have voted against the bill at the special called committee meeting. However, state Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, attended a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee, which he chairs, held at the same time. Higdon told Casino.org after his committee meeting that his preference is for voters to decide on gaming matters through a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The push to legalize sports betting in Kentucky took a major step forward Wednesday morning. That’s when a bill to make the Bluegrass State the 37th in the country to accept live and online sports wagers easily passed through a state Senate committee. The Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee\u2019s 9-1 vote on House Bill 551 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":264338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1074],"tags":[82033,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKentucky Sports Betting Bill Easily Clears Senate Committee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After Wednesday's 9-1 committee vote, the Kentucky sports betting bill now heads to the Senate in the waning days of the 2023 session\" \/>\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 Sports Betting Bill Easily Clears Senate Committee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After Wednesday's 9-1 committee vote, the Kentucky sports betting bill now heads to the Senate in the waning days of the 2023 session\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/\" \/>\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=\"2023-03-15T13:38:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-16T02:41:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Meredith_Koch_HB551_1200.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"799\" \/>\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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/\",\"name\":\"Kentucky Sports Betting Bill Easily Clears Senate Committee\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Meredith_Koch_HB551_1200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-15T13:38:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-16T02:41:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"After Wednesday's 9-1 committee vote, the Kentucky sports betting bill now heads to the Senate in the waning days of the 2023 session\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/breaking-kentucky-sports-betting-bill-clears-senate-committee-for-first-time\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Meredith_Koch_HB551_1200.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Meredith_Koch_HB551_1200.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"Kentucky State Rep. 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He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. 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Michael Meredith (back) testifies with state Rep. Matt Koch before the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee Wednesday in support of House Bill 551. That bill, which Meredith is its lead sponsor, would legalize sports betting across the state. 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