Kentucky House Passes Legal Sports Betting Bill, Sending it to Senate

The bill’s progress arrives as Kentucky is almost surrounded by states that currently have lawful athletics betting, such as Illinois and Virginia.

The hottest bid to legalize sports betting in the Bluegrass State is creating serious progress. 

Dwelling Bill 606 was handed Friday by the Kentucky Dwelling of Associates on a 58-30 vote.

The bill now heads to the other chamber of Kentucky’s legislature, its Senate. There, it will need to be approved again right before it can develop into legislation and lawful sporting activities betting can get started in the commonwealth. 

#makeKY34
On to the Senate! https://t.co/4Rzp3vczqe

— Adam Koenig (@repkoenig) March 18, 2022

On the other hand, there is no guarantee of achievements for H.B. 606 in the Senate and there are only 9 more legislative times left on the Kentucky Normal Assembly’s calendar. All small business in the Frankfort legislature have to wrap up by April 15. 

Continue to, the bill’s progress will come as Kentucky is virtually surrounded by states that currently have authorized sports activities betting, this kind of as Illinois and Virginia. The bill’s main sponsor in the legislature also cited a statistic from the American Gaming Affiliation that Kentuckians (who can presently lawfully guess on horse racing, together with the Kentucky Derby) are by now illegally wagering more than $2 billion a year on sports. 

“House Bill 606 provides functions that go on in each individual corner of this point out out of the darkness and into the light-weight,” Rep. Adam Koenig mentioned ahead of Friday’s vote. 

The information

If it does ever gain the governor’s signature, H.B. 606 would allow accredited racetracks or specialist athletics venues to provide both of those retail and on the web sporting activities betting. Bettors would need to be 18 or more mature and would nevertheless have to journey to a observe or stadium to sign-up themselves for cell wagering, in accordance to the Kentucky Legislative Exploration Fee. The tracks could also husband or wife with a sportsbook operator to take bets.

Koenig stated the tax earnings produced by sporting activities betting would support fund the state’s pension method, and that he’s anticipating at minimum $22.5 million in receipts each yr.

And, Koenig included, Kentuckians deserve the prospect to do anything they delight in with govt regulation and protections in place.

“The actuality is, we’ve been betting on sports activities in America because they invented sports,” Koenig stated Friday in the chamber.