Tennessee Next in Line for Sports Betting?

Lawmakers from the state of Tennessee have ed forces in order to compose bills that would regulate sports betting. For now, lawmakers from Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis have introduced their bills…

…although it was expected that the officials from Memphis would be most interested to participate.

Why?

Because sports betting is already legal in neighboring Mississippi, and since the city of Tunica that is close to Memphis has a casino, many gamblers go there to place wagers.

Although Governor, Bill Lee, said that he morally opposes legalizing gambling in the Volunteer State…

…Democrats and Republicans have filed their sports betting bills.

The Tennessee Bills

Republican Senator, Steve Dickerson, and Democratic Representative, Rick Staples, have filed their bills HB 666 and SB 1055. They both want to invest the money from sports gambling revenue into education.

Senator Dickerson believes that the amount of money coming from regulated sports betting would be huge because thousands of people “are already actively engaged in some form of online betting” in this US state.

According to the bill, the plan is to collect 10% tax from sports betting operators, while municipalities could also get a privilege tax of 2%.

New Regulatory Body

Sports wagering would be controlled by a newly-formed commission…

…and housed in the Department of Tourism.

Also, the commission would have to constitute a program for the treatment of gambling addiction.

“What I’m committed to is that it be a level and open playing field. I will not propose any bill or bring a bill to vote that favors one vendor over another,” Dickerson said.

Dividing Tax Revenue

Democratic Senator, Raumesh Akbari, sponsored another bill a few months before Dickerson that is quite similar actually. The only difference is that Akbari wants to divide the tax revenue between the state general fund, projects of Tennessee colleges and maintenance of education and infrastructure.

The officials believe that Tennesseans would shift their spending from lottery tickets to wagering on sports events. It is expected that sports betting would generate an additional $5.9 million for the state’s general fund…

…as well as $4.5 million for the Tennessee Board of Regents.

The Republicans’ Bill

Two other Republican lawmakers have introduced bills HB 1012 and SB 1463, that demand from both the state secretary and comptroller to conduct a study of economic impacts of legal sports betting in Tennessee…

…and also study how other states that legalized this form of gambling have done that.

Horse Racing Bills

Some lawmakers have also filed bills that would regulate betting on horse racing. Memphis Democrats, Akbari, and Representative, Joe Towns, have introduced their legislation…

…as well as Representative, Andrew Farmer, and Senator, Frank Nicely.

They want to establish a horse racing commission that would be in charge of pari-mutuel betting system and house in the Department of Commerce.

Source:

“Could this be the year sports betting is legalized in Tennessee? Republicans, Democrats it”, Natalie Allison, tennessean.com, February 13, 2019.