Second, legislative leaders have placed a priority on other bills in this session. That includes bills that would give legislators more input and authority over emergency executive orders. Lawmakers also must pass a one-year budget this year since the General Assembly held off from passing a two-year plan last March, citing the uncertain economic forecast.<\/p>\n
Those bills have eaten into the odd-year 30-day session that started last week. Typically, lawmakers in odd-year sessions hold organizational meetings for three or four days. Then, they recess for the rest of the month. This year, legislative leaders scheduled a Saturday session this past weekend and plan to meet through this Wednesday.<\/p>\n
That means when lawmakers return to Frankfort in February, they\u2019ll have just 22 days left in the session, which must end by March 30.<\/p>\n
In addition, legislative leaders have said historical horse racing (HRR) legislation needs to take priority, as lawmakers must find a way to allow the KHRC to permit and oversee the slot-like machines. Last fall, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued an opinion saying the games do not meet the definition of pari-mutuel gaming.<\/p>\n
The bill, though, does have some prominent backers. On Monday, Kentucky Government Retirees President Jim Carroll tweeted a statement endorsing it.<\/p>\n
Kentucky Government Retirees supports HB 241 as a common sense measure to tax an existing activity in Kentucky while helping fund pensions,” Carroll tweeted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s uncertain if the money from sports betting would be used to help alleviate the state’s public pension concerns. According to the Kentucky Retirement Systems 2020 Summary Annual Financial Report, the state’s pension plans had an unfunded liability of $28.3 billion.<\/p>\n
Last year, officials expected sports betting to generate $22.5 million in annual tax revenues.<\/p>\n
More Cosponsors Expected to Join<\/h2>\n
HB 241 was initially assigned to the House Committee on Committees, a group that includes Republican and Democratic House leadership. In a text Monday, Koenig told Casino.org<\/em> he expects the bill to make it to his committee during the session.<\/p>\nThe current bill has just five cosponsors, all of whom either serve on the LOAR Committee or the Interim Joint LOAR Committee that meets between sessions. Lawmakers expect that to grow.<\/p>\n
Last week on KET\u2019s Kentucky Tonight<\/em>, House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, said she expected most of her caucus to sign on as sponsors. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is also a vocal supporter.<\/p>\n\n
Last year, of the bill\u2019s 42 sponsors, 30 were Democrats. However, of those Democratic sponsors, 10 are no longer in the House. Nine of them either lost to Republicans in November\u2019s election or did not run for re-election and saw a Republican pick up the seat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s almost a certainty the bill will need a significant amount of Republican support to pass the House. The GOP controls 75 of the 100 seats in the chamber. So, even if all 25 Democrats support it and 25 of Koenig\u2019s Republican colleagues do as well, that still means nearly two-thirds of the majority caucus does not.<\/p>\n
There is some good news on that front. One of the new cosponsors is freshman state Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington. Timoney took over a district previously held by state Rep. Stan Lee, who was regarded as one of the most ardent social conservatives in the House.<\/p>\n
Even if the bill did not pass in this session, Koenig and supporters could use the time in Frankfort to educate members, especially newly elected ones, on the merits of legalized sports betting. That could set it up for passage in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kentucky state Rep. Adam Koenig has once again filed legislation seeking to legalize sports betting in the state. The Erlanger, Kentucky Republican has previously filed similar legislation. Last year, the state Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations (LOAR) Committee, which Koenig chairs, unanimously approved the bill. However, it never received a floor vote in the state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":160957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Kentucky Lawmaker Files Sports Betting Bill for the 2021 Session<\/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