Louisiana Slowly Working Toward A 2021 Sports Betting Launch

• Senate Bill 130 in Louisiana would put sports betting legalization to a vote in November.
• The bill passed on Tuesday to move forward within the House.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Senate Bill 130, which is a referendum bill that would put sports betting on the November 2020 ballot in Louisiana, was heard in the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday.

The bill was voted on favorably to move forward and continue to progress through the House.

The measure also passed in the Senate last week.

Tuesday’s Hearing

Senator Cameron Henry was in attendance to represent LA SB 130.

When asked to present his bill he did it quite simply to the committee.

“Okay members, what Senate Bill 130 does is it creates a referendum so that your constituents will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want sports wagering in Louisiana. I know sports wagering is a difficult issue for a lot of members but this way you’ll be able to know on November 3, 2020, you’ll know exactly what your constituents want you to do. Should we be successful, next year when it comes down to it we will discuss the taxing of it, the regulations of it, the licenses and the fees,” said Henry.

Louisiana Sports Betting Timeline

The Louisiana State Legislature will end their session on June 1.

Further hearings in the House will be required for SB 130 to pass. With these hearings slated to occur quickly, a final decision on the bill will be made within two weeks.

Should it pass, voters will be able to have a say on legalizing sports betting in Louisiana within their parishes come November.

Once it is known which parishes have decided to make the pastime legal, taxes, rules, and regulations will be drawn up to be discussed for 2021.

These proposals would then be voted on by lawmakers before a legal sports betting launch would occur sometime in 2021.

News tags: Cameron Henry | House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee | LA SB 130 | Louisiana