FRANKFORT — Every coin has two sides, and so it was with the opinions of Kentucky lawmakers in the Senate on Thursday after they passed legislation that would create a legal marketplace for sports wagering and establish a fund for regulation of the industry.
House Bill 551, sponsored by Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, and introduced on the Senate floor by Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, would also establish a fund for problem gambling, and much of the tax revenue would benefit Kentucky’s pension fund.
The legislation would also make the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission the exclusive regulator of sports wagering with exclusive jurisdiction over wagering and licensing.
“We are a sports crazy state – we love our sports in the Commonwealth,” Thayer said. “And people want to be able to make the choice of their own free will to make a wager on a sports event like almost all of our surrounding states.”
He said six states that border Kentucky have already legalized sports betting, and Missouri is in the process of doing so. Forty-six counties in Kentucky have a border state, and several thousand people regularly drive to Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee to make legal sports wagers, he added.
Thayer pointed to a fiscal analysis of the bill indicating that sports wagering would raise $23 million annually for the state general fund. However, Thayer said he thinks that number is low.
“We know that quantitatively, and we know qualitatively because we hear the stories about people driving across the river in Cincinnati and Louisville to make online wagers or brick and mortar sportsbook wagers in our surrounding states,” he said. “Our nine racetracks would be the brick and mortar locations. This follows the trend in other states where brick and mortar locations are located at racetracks, casinos, and occasionally professional sports franchises.”
The measure cleared the Senate floor on a 25-12 vote and now heads to the governor’s desk. It passed out of the House earlier this month on a 63-34 vote.
Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, said he’s against the legislation because the outcomes can badly damage people and families.
“I’ve heard all of you at one point or another on the floor and committee talking about how you want to provide for the least of these. You want to look out for people that are in need, you want to protect the people who can be harmed,” he said.
Westerfield said some families only have a specific amount of disposable income.
“And whatever money is spent on that app gambling on whatever sport you want to bet on is money that’s not spent in a church offering plate, that’s not spent on a United Way campaign, that’s not spent on a nonprofit that needs you,” he said.
Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, also opposed the bill.
“I made a promise to my constituents when I ran that the only way I would vote for gambling would be on a constitutional amendment. Kentucky’s constitution only allows three types of gambling – lottery, charitable gaming, and pari-mutuel. And this doesn’t fit in any of those categories,” he said.
Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, voted for the measure even though he said he has spoken to many friends who are against it.
“I can’t take responsibility for everybody in this state on their wagering,” he said. “However, what I assured them was I would make sure there is a fund… for problem gamblers and that we would monitor that to make sure it is sufficient for what we need to do and that it is going to the right people.”
Senate Minority Whip David Yates, D-Louisville, also voted in favor of the measure, citing less government intrusion in his constituents’ lives.
“They wanted sports wagering. They wanted the ability to be able to make a bet legally. And I say ‘legally’ because a lot of people were already making the bets on their phone. They were already doing it,” he said. “…What does work is a calculated, intelligent regulation and oversight, and I think this bill does that.”