Kentucky’s sports betting bill is stalled in the House of Representatives. How come?
By all measures, a bill to legalize sports betting in Kentucky sailed through the early part of the 2020 legislative session. There was little debate over the bill in committee and the vote was unanimous. By mid January, House Bill 137 was waiting to be voted on by the full House of Representatives.
Then it stalled.
Asked about progress on the bill almost every day since it was approved by a committee of lawmakers, House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, has repeated some version of the phrase “it’s still being discussed in caucus.”
It has been a long discussion.
“I think that gambling in general remains a very divisive issue in Kentucky,” Osborne said Monday. “It’s still an issue that invokes very strong emotions.”
The Kentucky Republican Party largely has two camps in the legislature based on their top priority: social conservatives and business conservatives. While there is overlap on most issues, the fault lines are exposed when an expansion of legal gambling is debated.
Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, a pastor at Korea Church of God, is against the legalization of sports betting. He thinks the bill, which would allow people to bet on professional and college sports at Kentucky’s horse racing tracks, Kentucky Speedway and online via an app downloaded at the tracks, would have a social cost that would be greater than any money generated from the bill.
“I know there’s horse racing here and has been for decades and we have the lottery and I know both of those are here to stay,” Hale said. “But I just feel like this sports betting issue, it’s such an enticement. I think the convenience of it, of being able to eventually be able to put it on your phone as an app and sit in your home and wager on this, it just makes it such a convenient opportunity that I think it could be abused very much by individuals.”
The Senate presents an additional hurdle. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, has indicated he’s not fully on board, calling the bill “a little unusual.” If Senate leaders give an indication they’re unlikely to pass the bill, some Republicans in the House might be hesitant to cast a vote in favor of a bill that a primary election opponent might use against them.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, said he’s been communicating with members of the Senate and is making headway.
“The more I speak to senators, including some members of leadership, the more confident I am that it will go through the Senate,” Koenig said.
Proponents of the bill tout it as a way to generate much-needed revenue. Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has pushed for sports betting as a way to help pay for raises he has proposed for teachers, state police and state employees.
Meanwhile, the dark money group Kentucky Sports Betting Now has been running ads in support of the bill with sports icons like Brent Musburger and Michael Waltrip.
“There’s a lot of members that need to consult with their constituents and get to where they’re comfortable,” Koenig said.
Hale said he sees an urban and rural divide forming over the issue.
“I think more people out in the rural areas are opposed to this than the people in the urban areas,” Hale said.
Koenig keeps coming back to the argument that sports betting is already going on in Kentucky and that by ignoring that reality, Kentucky is missing out on tax revenue and a chance to regulate the industry.
“It is going on. I’m not denying that,” Hale said. “But I just think that it brings us another incentive that could cause a lot of problems.”
Koenig, though, is convinced the bill will be signed into law by Beshear before the end of the session in April.
“I would bet on it,” he said.
