With 30 states having legal sports betting, Missouri state Senator Denny Hoskins, would like the Show Me State to be number 31. The Republican legislator pre-filed priority legislation on December 1 to legalize sports betting.
This isn’t the first time members of the state government has tried to have wagering on sports in Missouri. In 2018, Representative Bart Korman introduced a bill that would have allowed riverboat casinos, which had been legal since 1994, and Daily Fantasy Sports operators to offer sports betting, but it failed to pass.
In January of this year, Representative Dan Houx introduced HB 2502 aimed at legalizing sports betting. The bill was passed in the House, but the Senate took no action and by May the legislative session concluded.
Houx, however, was undeterred. In September, he sponsored another sports wagering bill, this one titled HB 4. The lone difference being the tax rate increased from 8 percent to 10 percent.
HB 4 seems to have more momentum and legislators, recently stinging from their neighbor Kansas approving sports betting, make this bill a priority.
Hoskins’ bill for the senate would not only legalize sports betting, but allow video lottery terminals (VLTs) to operate at retail lottery locations, veteran and fraternal facilities, bars and truck stops.
SB 1 is called the “Honoring Missouri Veterans and Supporting Missouri Education Act.” The 10 percent taxes collected from sportsbook operators would go toward elementary and secondary education, higher learning initiatives and capital improvements at veterans’ homes and cemeteries.
After the first of the year, the clock will be ticking to get Houx’s and Hoskins’ bills to mesh so they can be presented to Governor Mike Parson, who has already said he would sign them into law.
One stumbling block appears to have been resolved. Hoskins initially was looking for a 21 percent tax rate. He has compromised and changed that to 10 percent, the same as Houx’s bill.
“Passage of this legislation would bring much-needed revenue to Missouri schools and veterans homes,” Hoskins told reporters. “My sportsbook legislation could generate more than $10 million each year, while video lottery terminals would generate over $250 million in new state revenue, which more than makes up the $50 million funding shortfall our veterans’ homes and cemeteries experienced this year. We must honor our commitment to our veterans and VLTs provide a consistent revenue stream to do that.”
If the Missouri legislature can get a bill passed to Parson before the session ends in May, sports betting could be a reality by August, just before the college and pro football season.
