Kentucky state Rep. Adam Koenig filed House Bill 606, the fourth attempt to legalize on-site and online sports betting in the state. It’s similar to the bill Koenig sponsored last year that didn’t make it through the legislature.
Koenig stated, “We already have the costs of expanded gaming. Whether it be casinos, whether it be sports betting on our borders or whether it be the offshore accounts that you can access with an app on your phone or the bookies that exist in every corner of this state.” He noted a study done three years ago estimated sports wagering could generate revenue in excess of $22 million for Kentucky.
Under HB606, wagers could be made on professional and college sporting events and international events such as the Olympics and World Cup Soccer. Prop bets would be allowed and tax rates would be 9.75 percent for in-person bets and 14.25 percent for online bets.
An accompanying measure, HB609, also sponsored by Koenig, would establish the Kentucky Problem Gambling Fund with $225 million set aside for problem gambling services. The money would come from the settlement money won from the PokerStars lawsuit. Flutter, the current owners of PokerStars, has agreed to pay a total of $300 million, which would cover Koenig’s proposed fund.
Currently, Kentucky provides no money for problem gambling services. Koenig said his proposal would provide Kentucky with one of the most comprehensive problem gambling programs in the U.S. A report indicated approximately 30,000 Kentuckians struggle with problem gambling.
Meanwhile, the Kentucky Family Foundation issued this dire prediction: “We don’t think a sports betting bill will even make it through the first round of the legislative playoffs, much less pass both chambers of the legislature. There is just no sentiment for getting into another ugly and divisive fight on gambling just a year after historic horseracing slot machines only barely made it through.”
