A sports betting measure made it farther than ever before in the most recent session of the Kentucky legislature.
HB 606 passed the House and was discussed in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Labor, but there it died despite several efforts to move it to the floor for a vote. The bill would have legalized mobile and retail sports wagering, plus online poker and daily fantasy sports.
The measure passed the House in a 58-30 vote on March 18. Then on the last day of the session, Senate Floor Majority Leader Damon Thayer moved it the committee “to give it a chance.” He said it would not move to the floor unless it had enough votes to pass. A frustrated Thayer said, “I just told them I’m tired of being the spokesman for the people who don’t support it. I support the sports betting bill. It would be a natural extension of our history and tradition of betting on horses in Kentucky.”
He added, “I’m personally disappointed that we were unable to pass sports betting. We just don’t have the votes. I think that will change by next year. I will continue to advocate for us adding this to our betting menu. I think we should allow the people of Kentucky to make a choice of their own free will, like all of our surrounding states do, to be able to make a legal wager on sports.”
Governor Andy Beshear has supported sports betting in Kentucky. Earlier, he said, “My thought is, if Damon Thayer wanted sports betting to pass, he’d get it passed. It’s time. The people of Kentucky absolutely want this.” In response, Thayer said Beshear was “out of touch” and “hyper partisan,” among other things. In the last week, a lot of the undecideds went to no votes. We don’t waste our time voting on bills that don’t have the votes to pass. Time is a precious commodity. We’re not like the U.S. Congress or legislatures in other states that meet year-round. We have 60 days every other year. That’s it.”
State Rep. Adam Koenig, sponsor of HB 606, noted another bill he introduced, which would have created a $50 million fund for problem gaming services, also did not make to a floor vote. Koenig said, “If we don’t approve sports betting, we still have, from last year, $6 billion in parimutuel wagering, $1.5 billion in lottery and God knows what in charitable gaming. We need to fund problem gaming programs.”
Koenig vowed to “outlast his opponents.” He noted, “Elections can change outlooks. For four years I’ve been working on sports betting in the House, and I finally got it passed, and the Senate had it for four weeks. I’m frustrated, but it’s not a complete surprise, given they only had four weeks to focus on it.”
Regarding 2023, Koenig said, “We’ll figure that out later. “The opposition is not the details of the bill. It’s not about constitutionality. If it was a secret ballot, it would pass 28-10. It’s about willingness. It’s postponing the inevitable. It’s going to happen soon. I wish it was today, but it wasn’t.”
He added, “Here’s how we go forward. You gotta show up and vote, find out where the candidates are on this issue and express how you feel about it. That’s how we change it.”
In response to the outcry from voters who expected legalized sports betting this year, Thayer said, “I support sports betting, but my god, the absolute offense that people take at this is the ultimate first-world problem. Nobody’s life is getting worse because we didn’t pass sports betting. We pass bills on all kinds of serious issues, and I’m for sports betting, and I’m more energized than ever, but my god, people, take a chill pill. My only advice to the advocates for sports betting is to tell them that shaming their opponents on Twitter is not the way to get sports betting passed.”
Thayer stated he’s hopeful a sports betting bill may pass in 2023 because it’s not an election year, a few new state senators will join the legislature and more time will have passed since last year’s vote on historical horseracing machines. “I think the advocates should be optimistic. Sports betting got further in the Kentucky General Assembly than ever. It’s always going to be very difficult because of the religious concerns, in rural areas especially, but we just have to keep trying.”
