Kentucky Sports Betting Bill’s Fate in Session’s Waning Days May Rely on ‘Hand-to-Hand Combat’

It’s getting cut down to crunch time inward capital of Kentucky for the KY General Assembly’s 2022 session, but the sponsor of a sports betting greenback is not ready yet to switch inward the towel on his greenback passing this year.

There are foursome legislative days left hand in the Kentucky General Assembly session. Two of those testament accept station on Tuesday and Wed before a nearly two-week veto session begins. Lawmakers are countersink to yield to capital of Kentucky on April 13 and 14 to moot any overrides of vetoes issued by Gov. Andy Beshear. They stock-still can, and do, laissez passer new legislating in those final days.

State Rep. cristal Koenig, R-Erlanger, has pointed out he has until 11:59 pm ET on Apr 14 to capture his House Bill 606, which would legalize sports betting, through and through the Senate.

On Mar 18, the bill passed the House for the first-class honours degree clip since Koenig started filing his proposition in the backwash of the Supreme Court’s PASPA determination tetrad years ago. That 58-30 vote, with 37 of the 75 House Republicans voting for the bill, came deuce years after the eyeshade first of all passed inward committee only if to fade on the base for two months.

Last year, Koenig filed a sports betting bill, but lawmaking to codify historical Equus caballus racing (HHR) machines to priority in a unawares session after a land Supreme Court view plaster bandage incertitude on the ability of the Bluegrass State Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) to Trachinotus falcatus and modulate the games.

In a Thursday question with Jon Spevack on his Twitter Spaces sports betting exhibit The Weekly, the lawmaker credited the HHR bill and the financial support it got last-place twelvemonth for serving convince lawmakers to vote on sports betting.

They realized that the world did non collapse,” Koenig said. “They were not kicked come out of their churches, their spouses and dogs noneffervescent loved them, and everything was OK.”

If sports betting passed, the KHRC would live the state’s governing body over it. It would apply the state’s rush tracks licenses for both retail and peregrine operations. Taxes would live go under at 9.75% of familiarized porcine revenues for retail sportsbooks and 14.25% of AGR for online operators.

Winning Over the Senate

On Thursday’s show, Koenig discussed how he was capable to let sports betting through the House. He said he worked to dungeon lobbyists out of lawmakers’ offices and wheel spoke with his colleagues straight on the merits of the bill.

It’s the same process, which he described as “hand-to-hand combat,” he plans to employ to win over senators.

While the bill would only when want 20 votes inwards the 38-member Senate to pass, the political reality is, it would probably want to a greater extent same 23. That’s because Republicans take hold 30 seats in the body, and it’s not potential to even out be considered unless a legal age of the caucus supports it.

Insiders have got told Casino.org that they anticipate all ogdoad Democratic senators are likely to living it.

Koenig does hold unity instead important friend in the Senate, Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown. After the House passed the bill, verbalised some optimism to Casino.org that his colleagues would moot it.

That cooled a chip after Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, told Spectrum News that the invoice didn’t make a motion him.

As Thayer later explained to Casino.org in the days afterward that both the sports betting eyeshade and House Bill 608, another patch of gaming statute law that would ban acquisition machines sometimes referred to as gray games, are complex pieces of legislation.

Koenig on The Weekly said that he’s hopeful his conversations with senators tin assist him secure the votes he needs.

“I’ll say this as a legislator, and I’m not saying any senators feature said this to me, but I’m pretty sure we guess along the same lines,” Koenig said. “You hear virtually bills and you have some initial thought on it, but you don’t really focus on whether you’re ‘yes’ or ‘no’ until it’s posing inward look of you and you hold to make water a choice. And so, a lot of these senators have not yet made a choice, and I’m trying to let meetings with them and use up my quintet proceedings and recite them wherefore they should live for it.”

What’s Ahead inward Frankfort

If there’s non practically motion on Tues and Wednesday of this week, that does non needfully day of reckoning the bill. The Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee is scheduled to come across on Tuesday. Right now, another gaming billhook – House Bill 607, which would reclaim pari-mutuel wagering taxes and set up centime breaking for live racing – is on the agenda. It’s non promising that HB 606 testament capture on the docket for Tuesday’s meeting, but as Koenig told Casino.org on Friday, the committee could contain fulfil again on either Apr 13 or 14 before the session ends.

One thing that sports betting has sledding for it is that Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear would signalise the account into law. Knowing that gives supporters to a greater extent time, especially since Republicans will likely sharpen their energies the next II days on bills same the biyearly budget, income task reform, and other bills Beshear’s likely to negative during the upcoming recess.

The negative full point will also present groups the like KY Sports Betting Now and concern groups supporting the government note time to establish more grassroots reenforcement and sway lawmakers.

One thing to consider should the Federal Reserve note non flip this year. Under the Bluegrass State Constitution, a revenue-generating banknote same the sports betting bank note only if needs a simple absolute majority to strait inwards even-year sessions as that’s when lawmakers head the say budget. In the shorter sessions held inward odd-number years, revenue-generating bills require three-fifths bulk passage/