With the possibility that the Ohio constitution would require amendment to allow sports betting, Senate President Larry Obhof said last week that the sportsbook bill introduced two months ago will be assigned to a committee after the midterm elections.
“I think there is a pretty serious legal question of, irrespective of the federal court decision this year—whether or not we could even have sports gaming here, if that’s something the legislature could even authorize, even if they wanted to,” Obhof said. Obhof personally opposes sportsbetting but has said he won’t attempt to block such legislation.
Senate Bill 316 was introduced as a shell bill, with most of the details to be filled in later.
The Senate president told Cleveland.com that the state constitution only allows casino gambling. Casinos were themselves legalized in 2009 with a constitutional amendment.
A spokesman for Obhof, John Fortney, added, “The Constitution basically limits gambling to the voter-approved casinos, charitable gaming and the lottery.” He cited Article XV, Section 6 of Ohio’s Constitution which expressly forbids any form of gambling that isn’t specifically listed as permissible.
There is no timeline for the legislation, which Fortney said will receive hearings. Co-sponsor John Eklund said Obhof was correct to bring up the issue.
