Maryland state lawmakers, fresh off their failure to pass a ballot question for last year’s general election to legalize sports betting, are exploring whether or not they can approve sports betting without amending the state constitution.
The position of state officials has been that amending the state constitution is required to expand gambling in the state. That requires the state General Assembly to pass a ballot question and for voters to approve the question in a general election. That’s how the state approved casinos in 2008. Since that was not done for this year’s midterm elections, the earliest the question can be put to a vote would be November 2020.
According to a report in the Associated Press, state lawmakers are eager to jump on the revenue bandwagon posed by sports betting before that, and are zeroing in on potentially regulating sports betting through the state lottery. “If we can find a way to do it without a referendum, I’m certainly amenable to move forward this year, state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller told reporters, according to the AP.
House Speaker Michael Busch has indicated he is open to considering any ideas that could bypass the need to wait nearly two years to implement sports betting.
The state lottery, created through a ballot vote in 1972, has the authority to add lottery games without further approval, but the commercial vendors that invariably must be involved in the operation may cause it to legally be considered an expansion of commercial gambling, subject to a statewide vote and amendment to the constitution.
Maryland Lottery Director Gordon Medenica told the AP that attorneys are currently examining the definition of lottery operation that’s on the books. “We’re prepared as an agency—obviously, we were prepared a year ago—to embrace it,” he said, “and we’re certainly keeping up with all of the developments in sports betting.”
Medenica said that considering the procurement process, the lottery could be up and running with sports betting by early 2020, about a year before sports books would be able to go live after a successful ballot vote in November of that year.
However, many are wondering whether it would be worth the effort to initiate sports betting now through the lottery, since opponents are bound to file lawsuits to block the operation. “Unfortunately, there are going to be lawsuits no matter who does what,” Miller said, meaning the issue could be tied up in the courts until 2020 anyway.
