We believe that there is overwhelming support for the bill in its current form,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t anticipate any amendments being offered in the House at this point. My hope and expectation is we\u2019re able to move the bill out of committee and over to the Senate sometime in February, and that we\u2019ll be able to have a robust discussion in the Senate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Greenspan added that he thinks it\u2019s important that the funding from sports betting go to support public education, and at least one veteran Ohio education advocate believes that Householder may look to use sports betting revenue as part of his push to reform how the state\u2019s public school districts are funded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Speaker Householder really is determined to fix school funding and knows it’s going to take more money,\u201d Bill Phillis, the executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding and a former state assistant superintendent for education, told Casino.org<\/i>. \u201cThen of course, some sort of gaming, in my opinion, would probably fit into that scenario.\u201d<\/p>\nSenate Bill Progressing<\/h2>\n
State Sen. John Eklund (R-Munson Township), who along with state Sen. Sean O\u2019Brien (D-Bazetta) serve as primary sponsors for the Senate bill, told Casino.org<\/i> that bill received a couple of hearings in the fall. He claimed it was part of a process to educate their colleagues about sports betting and dispel some myths, especially about online gaming.<\/p>\n
He also said the bills’ sponsors haven\u2019t had a chance to meet recently to discuss their legislation, but that opportunity will likely come in the near future.<\/p>\n
However, while the lawmakers do have all of 2020 to get a bill hammered out, it\u2019s also an election year. If past election years serve as precedent, Eklund said it will likely mean lawmakers will be back home in March campaigning in the primary and then spending the summer working on their general election.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just a concern that Eklund has for this bill, but for a number of initiatives he\u2019s working on. That could mean if consensus on the sports betting bill isn’t reached early in the session, then it may not be hashed out until after the November general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have great hope that this year it will get done and it will get done right. But to say it favors an early disposition or a later disposition, who knows,\u201d he told Casino.org<\/em>.<\/p>\nWhere Should Funding Go?<\/h2>\n Both Greenspan and Eklund said their bills are about 90 percent similar, and both are optimistic they can reach a consensus. That said, they do have some fundamental differences, including how the funding should be spent.<\/p>\n
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While Greenspan likes that directing the funds to the lottery would bolster education funding, Eklund isn\u2019t sure that sports betting revenues, which he estimates to be about $30 million annually, would best help the state if that pool of money is divvied up among the more than 600 school districts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
There may be some worthwhile education initiatives considered for funding, he said. But it\u2019s money that could also go toward other projects, like drug treatment centers.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s really a question of let’s find where you could get the most bang for that buck, and to me on that level, the options are endless and I think any are worth considering. I really do,\u201d Eklund told Casino.org<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n
Sports Betting: Lottery vs. Casino Control<\/strong><\/p>\nOhio isn’t the first state to debate whether sports betting should fall under lottery or a gaming commission’s jurisdiction. Of the 20 states plus the District of Columbia that have passed sports betting laws, eight have placed sports betting under the auspices of their lottery.<\/p>\n
Lottery:<\/strong> Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, West Virginia, District of Columbia*, Montana*, and Tennessee*.<\/p>\nGaming Commission:<\/strong> Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado*, Illinois*, and Michigan*.<\/p>\nTribal:<\/strong> New Mexico, North Carolina*.<\/p>\n*-Sports betting legal but not yet active.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Ohio State Legislature gets ready to reconvene in Columbus later this month, lawmakers are still considering two ways to legalize sports betting in the state. While both bills would allow retail sportsbooks at the state\u2019s casinos and racinos and mobile sports betting applications that could be used anywhere within the Buckeye State, there are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":123730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Ohio Sports Betting Bills Similar But Feature Fundamental Differences<\/title>\n \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