Churchill Downs<\/a>, along with the Kentucky Speedway, to offer both brick-and-mortar sportsbooks as well as online sports betting. For the first 18 months of the law, participation in online sports betting would first require registering in-person at the affiliated track\u2019s sportsbook.<\/p>\nIt also legalizes and regulates online poker and daily fantasy sports.<\/p>\n
Family Foundation Questions GOP Leadership<\/h2>\n
Those who oppose the bill say that House majority leadership is not paying attention to the rank-and-file GOP members. Republicans hold a 61-37 majority. Of HB 137\u2019s sponsors, 28 of them are Democrats.<\/p>\n
Republicans hold a similar advantage in the Senate, where 29 of the 38 members are Republican.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is ironic that Kentuckians gave Republicans a majority in the KY House of Representatives, only to see them trying (to push) Democratic legislation like #SportsWagering,\u201d said Martin Cothran, a spokesman for the Family Foundation of Kentucky, in a tweet on Thursday. \u201cThat won’t play well in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expanded gaming, though, is not necessarily a Democratic issue. Last year, Republican-majority legislatures in Indiana and Tennessee, two of Kentucky\u2019s neighbors, passed sports betting legislation.<\/p>\n
Is A New Law Necessary?<\/h2>\n
On Saturday, another Kentucky lawmaker supporting sports betting made an argument online that the General Assembly may not even need to pass a law in order to make it legal.<\/p>\n
\n
State Rep. Jason Nemes (R-Louisville) said he wants to see lawmakers pass the bill, and he is a co-sponsor of Koenig\u2019s bill. However, should the measure stall, he thinks businesses could be allowed to set up a \u201csports betting business\u201d and be taxed at the 6 percent sales tax rate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThis is because Kentucky has no law prohibiting sports betting,\u201d Nemer said on Twitter. \u201cThe Kentucky Constitution clearly doesn\u2019t. And I haven\u2019t found a statute that does either. Under our system, conduct isn\u2019t presumptively illegal. It is legal until a law is passed criminalizing it. There is no such law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some chapters of Kentucky state law do deal with unlawful betting. However, he said he thinks an argument could be made before the courts where judges rule that sports betting and fantasy sports are considered games of skill and not games of chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s been more than two weeks since a bill to legalize sports betting in Kentucky unanimously cleared a state House committee. However, the bill has yet to make it on the House floor for its next vote. While that has led to some rumors and speculation of whether House Bill 137 has enough support to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":125827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
'Rumors' of Ky. Sports Betting Bill Demise are Exaggerated, Koenig Says<\/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