Down The Middle News: Kansas Struggles With Details of Legalizing Sports Betting

By JOHN HANNA, AP Political Author

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers who wish to legalize betting on sports activities occasions and permit on-line gross sales of lottery tickets are struggling to agree on the main points and going through criticism that they are being too beneficiant towards corporations already managing casinos for the state.

The state Senate voted 23-15 on Wednesday to approve a sports activities betting invoice lower than month after the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ victory in skilled soccer’s Tremendous Bowl highlighted what number of Kansas followers doubtless positioned wagers on the group out of state or illegally. Approval got here after a four-hour debate and despatched the invoice to the Home, however a committee there may be working by itself laws that’s more likely to differ considerably.

The Senate’s invoice would permit individuals to put bets on sports activities occasions by 4 state-owned casinos managed by personal corporations by contracts with the Kansas Lottery, and the on line casino corporations might take wagers by laptop or cellphone apps. The measure additionally would permit restricted state lottery ticket gross sales on-line.

The invoice’s supporters do not anticipate sports activities betting to boost various million {dollars} a yr for the state, even when the annual quantity wagered reaches $1 billion, as a result of 95% would return to gamers within the type of winnings. However 20 states have legalized sports activities betting, together with Colorado, Illinois and Iowa.

“It actually put us able the place we will set up sports activities gaming in Kansas and pull, hopefully pull, wagers from a black market, off-shore, unregulated, untaxed market and convey it into Kansas underneath a regulated, protected market,” stated Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, a Republican from jap Kansas who led supporters throughout a four-hour debate.

The Home committee plans to have hearings subsequent month on its rival proposal. Chairman John Barker, a Republican from a central Kansas, the place racing greyhounds have lengthy been raised, stated the Home measure would give the state a bigger share of the sports activities betting income and would permit a whole bunch of retail shops that promote lottery tickets to just accept easy bets on sports activities.

“We thought we’d unfold it out,” Barker stated. “You could possibly be capable of go down and purchase a lottery ticket and guess on the Okay-State-KU sport, hopefully purchase a loaf of bread and 10 gallons of fuel or no matter and go residence.”

There’s additionally the query of whether or not Kansas ought to attempt to revive long-closed canine and horse racing tracks. State legislation permits slot machines on the tracks, however critics say the state’s take is just too excessive for them to be worthwhile. The Senate voted 18-17 towards decreasing the tax fee for a canine and horse racing park in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas.

The park is owned by billionaire on line casino mogul Phil Ruffin, a buddy of President Donald Trump. The Wichita Eagle reported that in 2018, Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, listed Ruffin as a reference as she sought an ambassadorship, sending an e-mail to a political operative 10 days after for the same proposal. She voted for Wednesday’s proposal as effectively.

Democrats within the Senate complained that their chamber’s invoice gave an excessive amount of management over the sports activities betting to the businesses managing the state’s casinos by not requiring separate sports-betting contracts with the lottery and letting the on line casino managers resolve who supplies laptop or cellphone apps.

Some critics additionally discovered the casinos’ favored place galling due to restrictions the invoice would place on on-line lottery ticket gross sales. A few dozen different states have some type of on-line lottery gross sales.

The Kansas Lottery could not use any sound or visible results simulating a slot machine, permit somebody to play a couple of sport at a time or decide a winner in lower than 4 minutes. The lottery estimates it might increase gross sales $three million a yr underneath the invoice however by as a lot as $26 million if the provisions have been much less restrictive.

Sen. Tom Holland, a Democrat from northeast Kansas, stated the invoice is a “sucker guess” for the state when it is more likely to see extra playing addicts and different issues from expanded playing.

“If Kansas goes to increase its gaming merchandise, then that extension must be worthwhile for the state,” Holland stated in explaining his no vote.

Comply with John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

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