Kentucky Lawmakers Prefile Sports Betting Bill For 2020

• KY BR 236 is Kentucky’s latest effort to legalize sports betting.
• The bill focuses on land-based sports gambling.
• The Kentucky legislative session does not begin until January 8, 2020.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky lawmakers have prefiled a new sports betting bill for the 2020 legislative session.

KY BR 236 is the sports betting bill that was prefiled. This bill sets up Kentucky sports betting in a number of different ways.

What The Bill Does

Through this bill, sports betting becomes legal in Kentucky in retail locations. Kentucky sports bettors can make sports bets in horse race tracks around the state. They will also gain the ability to make sports bets at off-track gambling facilities as well.

But there is one major sports betting option missing from the bill. Within KY BR 236, mobile or online sports betting is not mentioned at all. At the moment, it does not seem like online sports betting is going to happen in Kentucky. But it could be amended into the bill. This might happen because State Sen. Julian Carroll, who made the bill, is concerned about losing revenue.

“Because of the General Assembly’s failure to act on this, despite numerous opportunities, Kentucky continues to lose revenue daily that could be funding our schools and ailing pension systems,” said Sen. Carroll.

This has become even more true in recent months. Kentucky is surrounded by several different states. Of those states, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois all have active sports betting. Kentucky residents can cross state borders and place their sports bets in those steps. Sen. Carroll wants to bring that revenue back to the state of Kentucky.

Sports betting will have a 25-percent tax on net sports wagering receipts. This money will help fund the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System. The revenue will also go towards the Kentucky Employee Retirement System. Some funding will go towards the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship. Whatever is left over will go towards building the Kentucky horse racing industry.

Hurdles To Cross

Legalizing sports betting will not be easy for Kentucky lawmakers. There are several state statutes that need to be amended first to allow sports betting. KY BR 236 will help amend these statutes.

There is also the fact that this is not the first sports betting bill that Kentucky lawmakers have introduced. Many sports betting bills in Kentucky have failed in the past since the repeal of PASPA.

There is a lot of work to get done before this sports betting bill will have a chance to go anywhere. Sen. Carroll will have to convince conservative lawmakers that sports betting is good for the state. The 2020 legislative session in Kentucky begins on January 8, 2020.

News tags: Frankfort | Horse Racing | Illinois | Indiana | Julian Carroll | Kentucky | Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship | Kentucky Employee Retirement System | Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System | KY BR 236 | West Virginia