As the Washington state legislature in Olympia enters the second year of discussions to end the ban on sports betting in the state, the Washington State Gambling Commission expects to be on the defensive against black market bookmaking.
Commission Executive Director Dave Trujillo told the News Tribune that the more socially acceptable an activity becomes, the more likely that people will do it, even if it is technically illegal.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting in the U.S. the lawmakers in Olympia have been working on writing a law that would authorize it and regulate it. The commission voted to take the position that it should be put in charge of sports book, whatever the wording of the final law.
The situation in the state is somewhat murky, since Washington was one of four states that was exempt from the 1992 ban. But the only type of sports betting the legislature has so far authorized was single game sports pools.
Any other forms, including daily fantasy sports, are currently illegal. So are betting pools. The authorities only act on complaints. They don’t seek out violators. They are particularly interested if consumers complain that they were cheated.
However, the main source of illegal sports betting seems to be online sites operated from offshore, and thus largely immune from state police.
Brian Considine, commission’s legal and legislative manager, brief the five-person commission recently, “If you want to bet in this state illegally, it might take you a lot of energy and effort, but eventually the way you’re going to do it is online. In fact, even if you find an illegal bookie somewhere, they’re going to probably direct you to an online website that’s offshore because that’s managing their risk.”
Trujillo expects that residents of Vancouver, Washington, will soon begin to pressure lawmakers to allow them to do what they can do now by crossing over into Oregon, where sports betting is expected to be offered beginning in September, just in time for the NFL season.
There is one active sports betting bill in the legislature, HB 1975, which was approved by a House committee this year, but has been inactive since. It would have limited sports book to tribal casinos and would not have allowed mobile betting.
That bill has the support of tribal casinos, but the Washington Horse Racing Commission and Recreational Gaming Association of Washington are fighting for a piece of the action for their industries.
The Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling is not trying to fight any such legislation, but is lobbying for money to be set aside for addiction treatment.
Trujillo said he expects the legislature to get busy adding flesh to the bones of the existing bill during the 60-day session in 2020, but doesn’t expect any bills to pass before 2021, when a longer 105-day session is scheduled.
Trujillo expects the lawmakers to borrow and cherry pick the best practices from other states that have already approved sports betting. He told the News Tribune, “There’s a smorgasbord of sports betting food out there because all states look to act and create the laws and regulatory program that is best for them. So far, there’s no good model policy out there because they’re all tailored uniquely tailored to their state and we would expect our Legislature to do something similar.”
