A bill has been proposed to make sports betting legal in Kentucky. The bill will have to pass through various levels before it becomes law; it has successfully managed to pass the first regulatory committee. After clearing the Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations Committee, it is now headed towards facing the floor test at the House of Representatives. If the bill manages to receive the approval of the majority of the house representatives, it will then have to face the Rules Committee.
Adam Koenig proposed House Bill 137, which seeks to permit horse racing tracks and the Kentucky Speedway to receive gambles on sports. The bill also proposes that sports betting will be controlled by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The charge for acquiring License for sports betting has been fixed at an initial amount of $500,000 and then an additional $50,000 as renewal fee.
Both online and offline betting will be allowed; in the case of online betting, the person has to register themselves in person at any of the racetrack or the Speedway and will be levied 10.25% as tax when physically carried out.
The state will be levying a tax of 10.25% when betting is physically carried out and online betting will attract tax at the rate of 14.25%.
A bill of this kind was introduced by the same committee in 2019 but was not able to secure the required number of votes needed to pass in the House. The constitution of Kentucky mandates that all bills passed to raise revenue should receive a minimum of 60 votes during odd-numbered years. However, this year it is an even-numbered year and the bill needs to obtain only the majority of the votes.
The bill presented in 2020 has few modifications as that presented last year; the old bill chiefly outlined a framework for sports betting, the new version allows players to bet on collegiate level sports, which involves teams based in the state.
