Although voters in 47 of 60 Louisiana parishes approved fantasy sports last November, bills approving DFS taxes and rules tanked in the final hours of the legislative session after state Senator Danny Martiny ran out the clock at the podium, angry over the maneuvers of state Reps. Kirk Talbot and Cameron Henry that led to the failure of his sports betting measure.
Fairness for Fantasy Sports Louisiana spokesman Ryan Berni noted the state will be denied the revenue it would have gained over the next two years from taxes on fantasy sports betting. “Very, very disappointing. I’m especially sad for the voters of the state who voted for this. The Legislature did not uphold the will of the voters,” Berni said.
Earlier in the session, the Senate approved SB 153, Martiny’s sports betting measure, for a referendum in October on legalizing sports betting at the state’s 20 casinos. However, the more conservative House rejected Martiny’s sports betting legislation as an unacceptable expansion of gambling and supported Talbot’s bills establishing the rules and tax rate for fantasy sports.
Martiny then got the Senate to attach his sports betting bill onto Talbot’s fantasy sports bills, but Talbot got the House to reject legalizing both fantasy sports and sports betting. At one point, state Rep. Cameron Henry removed himself from the House to prevent lawmakers from taking up Talbot’s bills; the committee hearing the bills could not take up Talbot’s bills without the presence of Henry, chairman of the committee.
Talbot’s bills with Martiny’s attached sports betting language went into a conference committee, consisting of three senators (including Martiny) and three House members (including Talbot). House conferees wanted the conference committee to remove sports betting and present a bill with only the fantasy sports rules and tax rate. However, that would have required the approval of Martiny and one of the two other Senate conferees, and they refused. Martiny, whose 26-year legislative career will end this session due to term limits, said, “This is the last bill that I will ever handle in the legislature. I’m not going to go down without a fight.”
The House approved HB459, the regulatory framework for fantasy sports, on a 70-27 vote followed by the Senate vote of 25-12. But—someone then asked if HB459 needed a two-thirds approval, or 26 votes. Three minutes of uncertainty passed before Senate President John Alario ruled the bill needed only 20 votes.
Finally, lawmakers also had to approve Talbot’s HB600, the fantasy sports tax structure. The Senate had only two minutes to approve it. Martiny objected and talked long enough to prevent the Senate from voting on the bill before adjournment. He said, “Unfortunately, there’s another side of this building that doesn’t play by the rules. I don’t like the way I was treated.”
Martiny’s push for sports betting always was considered to be a longshot due to opposition from religious and conservative groups.
Talbot’s fantasy sports legislation will have to wait until the 2021 session since the legislature only can consider tax measures in odd-numbered years. The bills also could be approved if the governor calls a special session next year.
