By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
A bill that would legalize sports betting in Missouri has once again hit a snag in the state legislature.
The issue, again, is whether or not video lottery machine legislation should be added to the bill.
State senator Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville is a sponsor of a House bill that would legalize sports betting in the state. He says sports wagering and video lottery machines need to be separate issues.
"Which is why, year after year, I've sponsored a clean sports wagering bill that would only authorize sports wagering in Missouri," Luetkemeyer told KFEQ Radio, "and has nothing related to VLTs in it. We got our answer on the floor of the Senate (last) Wednesday night when it came to a vote. There were 20 votes against the amendment to put VLTs onto my bill, and only 11 votes supported it."
Luetkemeyer remains hopeful that sports wagering will be passed in the Senate this year after the House voted 118-35 in favor of it. The worry, Luetkemeyer says, is advocates of video lottery machines could filibuster the sports betting bill, and prevent it from even coming to a vote.
"The question really is will the proponents of these video lottery terminals allow the bill to come to a vote before the session," Luetkemeyer said. "Or will they, as they've done in past sessions, continue to filibuster the bill."
State Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden believes the odds of passing sports betting are low. He assigned the bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee and anticipates a hearing will take place before lengthy sessions on the House-passed budget.
Luetkemeyer says Missourians should be allowed to bet on sports if they wish. He also cites money being lost to neighboring states.
"That money, if those bets were occurring here, would be earmarked for education for our K-12 schools," he explained. "So, what we're seeing is Missouri's tax dollars pouring out of our state and going to subsidize the schools in Illinois and Kansas, rather than staying here and supporting Missouri's educational system."
On the sports betting legislation that's before the Senate, a 15% tax rate on adjusted gross winnings could generate as much as $30 million annually for education in Missouri.
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