Koenig said there\u2019s nothing in those states\u2019 laws that he will necessarily look to add into his proposal.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say there won\u2019t be any changes, or that he won\u2019t be amenable to them.<\/p>\n
\n
While he plans to keep the bill essentially intact, Koenig said removing the ban on in-state college sports betting is on the table for 2020. His proposal also allows for mobile sports betting statewide, but it would require customers to open an account first at a retail sportsbook.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Koenig isn\u2019t the only Kentucky lawmaker proposing a sports betting bill. State Sen. Julian Carroll (D-Frankfort) prefiled a bill that would allow the racetracks and the Kentucky Lottery to offer sports betting.<\/p>\n
While Carroll is a former governor, he is just one of nine Democrats in the 38-seat state Senate, meaning his bill faces substantial hurdles in getting approved.<\/p>\n
Casino Support Not There<\/h2>\n
Like Beshear, Koenig is also a supporter of expanding gaming in Kentucky beyond just sports betting. However, Koenig, who will start his 13th year in Frankfort when lawmakers reconvene in January, said there\u2019s not enough support for casino gaming in the legislature.<\/p>\n
During the gubernatorial campaign, senate leaders said that any casino gaming bill would not get a vote in their chamber during the 2020 session.<\/p>\n
Beshear has called on the state to legalize casinos with the tax money generated from them to help fund the state\u2019s public employee pensions.<\/p>\n
While Kentucky does not have casinos, there are four historical horse racing (HHR) parlors across the state, with plans for more<\/a>. HHR machines are like slots, except that their payouts are based on pari-mutuel pools and the outcomes are based on previously run races.<\/p>\nKoenig said he\u2019s against raising taxes on the HHR machines. He added that he tells his colleagues that if they want to tax them like slots, then they need to legalize casinos.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you can tax them as such,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Kentucky General Assembly will take up sports betting again in 2020, as the lawmaker who sponsored the bill told Casino.org he will refile his proposal, possibly as soon as later this month. State Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) has made it no secret that he wants to bring up the bill again. While last year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":119867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Kentucky Sports Betting Proponent Moving Forward With Bill for 2020<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n