Buckeye State lawmakers are debating whether the Ohio Casino Control Commission (CCC) or the Ohio Lottery Commission (OLC) has jurisdiction to regulate sports betting if the state legalizes it.
State Senator John Eklund has wearied of such spats. He told CDC Gaming Reports last week: “I think part of the reason it has been slow to move on the Senate side has been because of some lingering and, in my opinion, unjustified concerns over the extent of which the Ohio Constitution would permit the casino commission to regulate this activity.”
He comes down on the side of the casino commission having the job and says the Ohio constitution backs him up.
That it’s even an argument attests to the “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” nature of some gaming questions, specifically whether sports betting is a casino game or not.
Eklund says the constitution does nor forbid the commission from regulating sports betting, therefore it can. He says that any argument opponents can marshal against the casino commission he can just as easily use against the lottery commission.
Eklund bases his case for the casino commission on three points: the constitution allows casino gaming to be regulated by that commission and doesn’t limit it to that. It does not give the job to the lottery commission. The constitution does not address sports betting.
He told CDC Gaming Reports: “This is not even much of an interpretation. It’s just a careful reading of the constitution.” He says if the legislature wants to, it can give the job to the lottery commission, but he argues that it’s a bad idea.
Meanwhile Governor Mike DeWine supports giving the job to the CCC. Eklund welcomes his support: “I don’t think the governor, who has had quite a noted career as a lawyer and prosecutor who deals with constitutional issues all the time, would come out in favor of the Casino Control Commission as regulator if it were unconstitutional. The fact the governor has come out and said he likes the Senate side suggests to me that he’s looking at this with an objective, thoughtful, lawyerly eye and reaching the same conclusion I’ve been espousing for some time.”
Because the House takes the lead in matters relating to finance, that chamber will pick up the issue of sports betting when the session resumes in September. The bill already exists: H 194. It has already undergone hearings by the Finance Committee on three occasions.
Senator Eklund says he has no “pride of authorship” and would be equally happy if a bill emerges from the House.
House Speaker Larry Householder has indicated that he favors the lottery commission as the regulatory agency for sports betting and doubts that the constitution supports a different conclusion.
