Ohio state Rep. Dave Greenspan and state Senator John Eklund recently announced they’ve worked out the details of substitute language for H 194, which would legalize sports betting in the state. The vote could come in the lame-duck session following the November 3 election, Greenspan said. “It’s not going to get done before the election because we’re not in session in October. I feel good about our prospects for passage this general assembly,” he noted.
The House bill that passed in May placed the Lottery Commission in charge of regulating sports betting, but the substitute names the Casino Control Commission as the overseer. “Based on the Senate’s insistence on the Casino Control Commission and the governor being in the same position, we fundamentally saw that this is what we need to do to advance the bill. If the CCC is allowed to have this and we know the support in the other chamber and the governor’s office is the CCC, let’s go that route,” Greenspan said.
The compromise also limits sports betting to Ohio’s 11 casinos and racinos, which also may offer online wagering. The House bill had allowed betting kiosks at veterans halls and fraternal organizations. In addition, revenue will be taxed at 8 percent, a compromise between 10 percent in the House bill and 6¼ percent in the Senate bill. Other provisions include three skins per casino/racino, no mandate for official league data, an initial license fee of $100,000 and an exclusion for wagering on high school sports.
The measure still must be assigned to a Senate committee. Once it passes in the Senate, it will return to the House for concurrence. “Given that the governor is in support of the bill, the Senate and House sponsors have come to an agreement on what the bill looks like and in the end it’s not too different from what the House had, I don’t think there will be much resistance to passage,” Greenspan said.
