Two years ago, Vermont Governor Phil Scott said expanded gaming was “not the answer to Vermont’s fiscal issues.”
Last week, the governor proposed to legalize sports betting and keno. House leaders signaled that they agree with the earlier stance.
Legislators in Montpelier indicated strongly that gaming—or at least keno—isn’t the way to go to solve the state’s bottom line issues, despite Scott’s claim in his budget address that it would bring in $4 million a year.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson pointed out that the House has usually opposed expanding the state lottery. On the other hand, two committee chairmen in the Senate have proposed sportsbook legislation.
Senator Dick Sears, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is one of those sponsors. He doesn’t see keno legislation having legs: “No traction whatsoever,” he said. “There’s a lot of anti-gambling folks in the Legislature.” According to the Joint Fiscal Office, keno, which is typically played in restaurants and taverns, could raise up to $3.5 million in the first three years.
If Keno is approved, Scott wants to use it to fund subsidies for families who need childcare services.
In pushing for sports betting, Sears, who is working in conjunction with Senator Michael Sirotkin, chairman of the Senate Economic Development Committee, argues that many in the state already make sports bets online or cross state lines to do it. “There’s so much money going on in sports betting today that it seems to me that you know, now that states like New Hampshire entered into it, Rhode Island, that we should be doing it as well,” he said.
Rep. Tom Burditt has introduced similar legislation in the House, but only for physical retail operators. He told the OSGA newsletter: “I think that doing the sports betting is a win for Vermont, but if you can also have it so that you’re gaining some jobs it’s a win-win.” He added, “I think we’re losing out. There’s a lot of money to be made. People are going to be doing their sports betting anyway—whether it’s legal here, or not.”
In the 2017-2018 legislative session DraftKings and FanDuel, the two giants in online sports betting operators, spent $84,000 to lobby the legislature. So far, they have spent nothing for this session.
