Legalized sports betting is one step closer to reality for citizens of North Dakota. The state House approved legislation last week that would allow voters to decide on the issue.
It was a tight vote in the House, with it passing by just five votes, 49-44. It now moves onto the state Senate where it failed to pass twice by narrow votes in 2021. It was also rejected in 2019.
If it clears the Senate then it would be on the ballot for the November 2024 election. If approved by voters it would “authorize sports betting to be conducted in the state and licensed and regulated by the state.”
The House bill is sponsored by Rep. Greg Stemen, who has alleged that North Dakotans are already partaking in sports betting, but are using illegal offshore sportsbooks.
Stemen told the Bismarck Tribune two weeks ago he wants the government to have more control over sports wagering in the Peace Garden State.
“If it’s already happening, let’s regulate it, let’s provide oversight, let’s put consumer protections in place and allow legitimate American gaming entities to partner with the state, and so that the people who are doing it have some protections built in,” Stemen said.
Stemen pointed to the American Gaming Association statistics that estimated approximately 138,000 North Dakotans are betting more than $300 million annually, including $30 million in revenues to offshore betting books.
Still getting a sports betting bill will not come without its challenges. The previous week members of the House rejected amendments that were attached to the Bill that would have outlawed college sports. Another amendment looked to change the language in the legislation.
The amendments were defeated 62-32 after the committee reviewing the amended bill voted 9-4 “do not pass.”
There is also healthy opposition in both chambers of the legislature.
Representative Lori VanWinkle urged her fellow legislators to reject the bill, telling the Tribune that gambling has many victims.
“I see gambling as something that chases fantasies and fuels the spirit of lust, which is unable to be satisfied with its constant thirst for more,” VanWinkle said. “There is no regard for those whose lives it ruins in the course of its path to get what it wants.”
Rep. Scott Louser, though, told the Tribune it is an issue for the voters to decide.
“Let’s trust the North Dakota voters with this question, and if passed, collect the revenue in North Dakota rather than sending the revenue from our residents to other states that have authorized sports betting,” Louser said.
