Colorado Sports Betting Bill Coming Soon, Key Lawmaker Says

• Casino gambling in Colorado is currently restricted to the towns of Cripple Creek, Black Hawk, and Central City.
• The bill is going to be spearheaded by Colorado House Majority Leader Alec Garnett.
• If passed, sports betting would be put on the ballot for voters to decide in 2019.

DENVER – With only one month remaining in the First Regular Session of the Seventy-second General Assembly, a sports betting bill will need to make an appearance soon. While not ready quite yet, Colorado House Majority Leader Alec Garnett is hoping to get the issue on the ballot this November.

“We’ve been working the last couple of months with stakeholders trying to build what a legal sports gambling framework would look like in Colorado,” said Garnett.

Garnett, a Democratic Representative, has been working with Republican House Representative Cole Wist on the issue since October of last year.

A current rough draft of the bill is said to contain provisions to allow for mobile and online sports betting in Colorado. According to an interview with CBSDenver, Garnett mentioned that the casinos in Colorado are interested in expanding their operations, leading many to believe that they would be in charge of mobile betting platforms.

Previous gambling expansion initiatives would also point to that possibility. Back in 2014, 70% of voters opposed a bill that would allow for gambling at racetracks outside the casino towns of Cripple Creek, Central City, and Black Hawk.

While the goal for both state representatives is to put the issue on the ballot, former Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman issued a legal opinion last year claiming that it wasn’t necessary to do so in order to have sports betting in CO.

“While Article XVIII, Section 2 imposes various restrictions on ‘lotteries’, commercial sports betting does not qualify as a lottery. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that betting on horse and dog races is not a lottery, and there is no material difference between betting on horse and dog races and betting on other types of sports events. Commercial sports betting therefore falls outside the restrictions in Article XVIII, Section 2.”

However, judging by how voters reacted to the state’s previous attempt at expanding gambling, Wist believes they should have a say in whatever proposal gets passed in the legislature this year.

“I think the best way is to come together, let’s figure out what we believe is the right balance and go ask voters,‘do we think this is going to work?”

Garnett is confident that he will be able to have a formal sports betting proposal passed before the legislative session ends on May 3 of this year.

According to the Colorado Public Radio, Garnett met with newly elected Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Colorado Governor Jared Polis back in January of this year and said that there is “a desire to move this through the legislature.”

News tags: Colorado | Colorado sports betting | gambling legislation