We return to Massachusetts again, where lawmakers in the state Senate and House have until July 31 to come together on the differences between each chamber’s sports betting bills. If July ends without the passage, they’ll have to wait for the next legislative session. And things are not looking good.
Last week, Governor Charlie Baker entered the fray again in an interview on Boston Public Radio.
“You know, it’s hard to tell at the end of session sort of what is or what isn’t going to get through the gate at the end,” Baker said. “It is certainly on the minds of people in the legislature … People are asking questions about it — people are still discussing it.”
While Baker said other bills were sure to be passed by the deadline, he couldn’t predict if sports betting would join them.
“It’s very hard for me to draw a conclusion,” he said
For her part, Senate President Karen Spilka remains optimistic. If negotiators reach a tentative agreement, she vowed to take a roll call vote.
State Rep. Jerry Parisella also sees hope outdistancing the differences.
The Senate took a voice vote on the actual sports betting bill in April, shielding elected leaders from disclosing their preference, according to MassLive.
“I know the conference committee is working on that, too,” Spilka said in regard to the possibility of an agreement on sports betting occurring this week. “We have, what, six or eight conference committees going on? It would be wonderful to resolve all of them. I’m hopeful.”
One of the key issues revolves around wagers on college games. The House says OK; the Senate does not.
House Speaker Ron Mariano says that’s a deal-breaker.
“I think there’s an opportunity to include college sports, rather than let it be only handled by bookies,” Mariano said. “I mean, I don’t understand if you’re going to do sports betting why you would leave out Final Four bowl games and the whole college football season. It doesn’t seem to be worth doing if you’re going to leave those.”
The Senate has a tighter curb on ads, marketing and use of credit cards. The House does not. The House has a 12.5 tax rate for in-person play and 15 percent for online. Compare that to 20 percent and 35 percent in the Senate.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau have supported passage.
Let’s say all this falls into place. Regulations still need to be drafted and implemented, said MassLive.
Should the prohibition against college betting remain, it could foster a rush to black market offshore operators.
“Every year that legal betting is not available, Massachusetts is losing valuable tax revenue to our neighbors,” Parisella said.
He cited the statistic from sports betting operator DraftKings that 30 percent of all Super Bowl 2022 bets made in New Hampshire came from Massachusetts residents who drove over the state line. Lawmakers project sports wagering could generate around $35 million in annual tax revenues for the state.
